Stigmatizing attributions towards depression among South Asian and Caucasian college students

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examined differences in stigmatizing attributions, affect, and treatment recommendations between South Asian and Caucasian college students in response to a vignette describing a hypothetical friend who was either male or female, and either South Asian or Caucasian, experiencing symptoms of depression. South Asian participants made significantly higher attributions of responsibility and reported more anger in response to the vignette compared to Caucasian participants, regardless of vignette ethnicity. Both South Asian and Caucasian participants attributed more responsibility and control to the vignette of the same ethnicity compared to the vignette of a different ethnicity, although this effect was slightly stronger for the South Asian participants. Exploratory analyses conducted to examine interactions between participant ethnicity and vignette gender yielded no significant effects. This study suggests that South Asians may have a more stigmatized view of depression than Caucasians, especially when the depressed person is South Asian.