Self-disclosure of concealable stigmatized identities: A dyadic longitudinal investigation guided by the contact hypothesis

Abstract

Stigma reduction research finds that brief interactions with a person with mental illness can reduce prejudiced attitudes. We examined whether this finding extends to real relationships over an extended period of time. First-year college roommate dyads, one of whom reported a mental illness diagnosis participated in a longitudinal study (N = 166 dyads across three American universities). Based on contact theory, we tested whether mental illness prejudice declines when: (a) the student with mental illness disclosed that information to their roommate; (b) the roommate perceived the disclosure; and (c) the roommate relationship was close. Registered analyses showed that student disclosure predicted roommate perception (β = .52, p < .001), but roommate perception of the disclosure did not significantly predict reduced prejudice from the start to the end of the academic year (β = −.13, p = .172). Relationship closeness did not moderate how likely roommates were to perceive students’ disclosures. Notably, overall levels of mental illness prejudice were very low in this American college sample, suggesting that the value of stigma interventions may depend on the context. Directions for future research and social policy implications are discussed.