Leiden University Student Repository

Bijker, Nele (2026)

De samenhang van gender met het vertoon van stigma ten opzichte van psoriasis binnen een Nederlandstalige volwassen populatie: Een observationele video-vignettestudie

Bachelor thesis | Psychologie (BSc)

Public stigma poses a significant social challenge for people with psoriasis and can have psychosocial consequences. Although previous research has identified stigma, its effect on behavior is unclear and findings on the role of gender are contradictory. This thesis investigated the extent to which psoriasis influences social distance and the role gender plays in this context. 54 Dutch-speaking adults (15 men, 38 women, 1 non-binary) were shown two videos in which the same woman was present: in the first, she discussed a neutral topic; in the second, she discussed her experiences with psoriasis while skin lesions were visible. After both videos, the Social Distance Scale (SDS) was administered. Participants then performed the behavioral chair task, in which the distance to a presumed conversation partner was measured to assess avoidance behavior. The results showed that psoriasis led to a greater need for social distance (t(53) = 5.50, p < .001, d = 0.75) and that men placed the...Show morePublic stigma poses a significant social challenge for people with psoriasis and can have psychosocial consequences. Although previous research has identified stigma, its effect on behavior is unclear and findings on the role of gender are contradictory. This thesis investigated the extent to which psoriasis influences social distance and the role gender plays in this context. 54 Dutch-speaking adults (15 men, 38 women, 1 non-binary) were shown two videos in which the same woman was present: in the first, she discussed a neutral topic; in the second, she discussed her experiences with psoriasis while skin lesions were visible. After both videos, the Social Distance Scale (SDS) was administered. Participants then performed the behavioral chair task, in which the distance to a presumed conversation partner was measured to assess avoidance behavior. The results showed that psoriasis led to a greater need for social distance (t(53) = 5.50, p < .001, d = 0.75) and that men placed the chair further away than women (t(51) = 2.43, p = .019, d = 0.74). The findings emphasize that psoriasis can be a trigger for public stigma and that gender differences exist in how this is expressed. This underscores the importance of future research into the mechanisms behind these differences. The study has implications for replicating the findings in a diverse, proportionally distributed sample and for further validation of the chair task. In addition, the results provide insights for the development and design of interventions to reduce public stigma towards people with psoriasis.Show less

Psoriasis, Public stigma, Social distance, Avoidance behavior, Gender differences, Chair task

Author

Bijker, Nele

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Health and medical psychology

Supervisors

Sylvia van Beugen

ECTS Credits

20

Language

nl