An Exploration on the Public Stigma of Sexual Addiction

Abstract

This study explored the stigma toward individuals with sexual addiction and how it compared to gambling addiction, alcohol addiction, and depression in both males and females. Undergraduate students (N = 241) were assigned to read one of eight vignettes (mental illness x gender) and completed quantitative stigma measures (e.g., social distance). Results showed that alcohol addiction was the most stigmatized, followed closely by gambling addiction. Sexual addiction and depression had similar levels of stigma. Participants were less stigmatizing toward females with sexual addiction, and no other gender differences emerged. Additional variables and measures (e.g., perceived causes) were also explored.

Acknowledgments

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Declaration of interest statement

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Notes

1 One exception to the randomization procedure was the female alcohol addiction condition; the initial randomly selected 31 participants’ results for this condition had to be removed due to an error in the vignette. To replace these results, 33 more participants were recruited (n = 30 retained) and were given the corrected female alcohol addiction condition. Analyses were conducted to ensure these participants did not differ significantly from the initial sample; no significant difference emerged in terms of gender, age, and mental health experience, ps > .05. Due to this error (not complete randomization), this study was described as quasi-experimental.

2 A series of additional questions (e.g., open-ended questions, fictitious help-seeking questions, treatment of protagonist questions) were also given to participants; however, the responses were not included in the present article because they were exploratory beyond the main research objectives.

3 The Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR; Paulhus, 1988), which includes 40 items that measure two constructs (self-deceptive positivity and impression management), was initially included to assess levels of social desirability (α =.85). It was not used for the analysis as some research shows it may not truly measure socially desirable responding (Connelly & Chang, 2016; Müller & Moshagen, 2019).