Experiencing financial hardship has many detrimental effects on mental health and often leads to avoidance coping, which only exacerbates the financial difficulties. As educational programs have...Show moreExperiencing financial hardship has many detrimental effects on mental health and often leads to avoidance coping, which only exacerbates the financial difficulties. As educational programs have not effectively addressed avoidance coping, this study examines the effectivity of a self-compassion intervention on avoidance coping through reducing financial shame and financial stigma. Furthermore, we explored the effects of the intervention on problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping and financial stress. We surveyed N = 199 U.K. participants using the participant recruitment website Prolific. We performed a randomized, controlled two-group experiment where the effect of a self-compassion intervention on coping-styles was tested against no intervention. Results showed no significant effect of the self-compassion intervention, neither on avoidance coping nor on other forms of coping and financial stress. However, financial shame and financial stigma positively correlated with avoidance coping. Future research could investigate effective interventions addressing shame and stigma to reduce avoidant coping when experiencing financial hardships. Keywords: self-compassion, coping-styles, financial hardship, shame, stigma, avoidance-coping.Show less
Patients with a personality disorder may experience stigmatization, sometimes even on a daily basis. However, research suggests that not everyone with a personality disorder experiences it in the...Show morePatients with a personality disorder may experience stigmatization, sometimes even on a daily basis. However, research suggests that not everyone with a personality disorder experiences it in the same way, and that the extent to which it is internalized is also different for different persons, depending on a number of possible variables. The aim of the current study is to investigate the role of some of these variables, i.e. that of the type of personality disorder and age. It also examines whether the age at which patients have first been diagnosed might influence the extent to which they internalize stigmatization. In total, 36 participants from two specialized outpatient clinics filled out four questionnaires on stigma, in a cross-sectional comparative study design. The results show that neither the type of personality disorder nor age play a role, and that the age at which someone receives a diagnosis of personality disorder does not predict whether stigma will be internalized. Although the present study has its limitations, such as a modest representation of the target group and low statistical power, it is of value because it focuses on the patients’ perspective and paves the way for further research on this topic.Show less
In May 2019, the South Korean government has agreed to implement the new ‘gaming disorder’ classification, as instated in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health...Show moreIn May 2019, the South Korean government has agreed to implement the new ‘gaming disorder’ classification, as instated in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) by the World Health Organization (WHO), into their own Korean Standard Classification of Diseases (KCD) within the next few years. The classification will change how game addiction will be treated in South Korea, in both a medical and societal sense, and will have an especially big impact on how mental illness is perceived. This thesis therefore asks the following question: What are the possible effects of the implementation of the World Health Organization’s classification of ‘game disorder’ into the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases on the stigma on mental illness in South Korean society? Through critical analysis of the relevant parts of the ICD and KCD, exploration of South Korea’s history with the WHO and critical discourse analysis of scholars’ opinions on the subject, this thesis has determined that South Koreans are currently unlikely to get treatment for mental illness due to (perceived) stigma and that the classification of gaming disorder can play an important part in alleviating said stigma if the government uses the opportunity to development anti-stigma programs.Show less
The prevalent phenomena of "leftover women" has gained increasing attention from the media and different scholars in Chinese society. The term "leftover women" refers to urban and professional...Show moreThe prevalent phenomena of "leftover women" has gained increasing attention from the media and different scholars in Chinese society. The term "leftover women" refers to urban and professional women who remain unmarried by the time they are in their late twenties or early thirties. This phenomena frequently addresses questions pertaining to why such working women are not married, whether they are willing to marry and their attitudes towards marriage. The Chinese media has also produced many dramatic television series reflecting the situation and marital prospects of leftover women. Within the media, these women are stigmatised as money-worshipers, snobbish or picky. However, it has become evident that leftover women present themselves online as economically and spiritually independent entities who prefer compatibility over financial security in their romantic relationships. Upon comparing depictions of such women in the media to their self-representations, this paper makes a twofold argument: on one hand, media representations controlled by the dominant male discourse are criticising women for being money-oriented and picky so they become losers in the marriage market. On the other hand, women have realised their right to freely choose their own partners and decide when to get married. Hence, the discourse of leftover women actually represents a conflict between traditional patriarchy and potential burgeoning of a women's rights movement in the PRC.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Men beschouwt het vermogen om te communiceren vaak als evident. Wanneer we echter gaan praten met doven en slechthorenden merken we hoe zeer we een zintuig als ons gehoor moeten waarderen. Het...Show moreMen beschouwt het vermogen om te communiceren vaak als evident. Wanneer we echter gaan praten met doven en slechthorenden merken we hoe zeer we een zintuig als ons gehoor moeten waarderen. Het verliezen van het gehoor, of het nu veel of weinig is, zal gevolgen hebben voor de communicatie met anderen, en dus voor de toegang tot sociale relaties, locaties en het vervullen van behoeften. Het missen van een communicatiemiddel zoals gehoor zorgt ervoor dat men nieuwe manieren moet zoeken om sociale relaties te kunnen onderhouden. Daarnaast zullen bepaalde locaties niet meer gemakkelijk of zelfs helemaal niet toegankelijk zijn. Dit alles heeft tot gevolg dat men niet meer in alle eigen behoeftes kan voorzien. Denk hierbij aan zoiets simpels als naar de favoriete muziek luisteren of tot het kunnen communiceren met een vriend enzovoorts. Of iemand nu doof of slechthorend wordt geboren of dit op latere leeftijd meemaakt, het zal hoe dan ook de persoon beperken in zijn of haar toegang.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
This thesis investigates the ways in which metalfans in the Netherlands cope with prejudice and stigma. This thesis explores the collectivity of metalfans in order to explain how the group they...Show moreThis thesis investigates the ways in which metalfans in the Netherlands cope with prejudice and stigma. This thesis explores the collectivity of metalfans in order to explain how the group they belong to attaches great importance to authenticity. The concept of authenticity is used to show how the issues that contribute to prejudice and stereotypes about metalfans and the metalscene, are also the issues that contribute to being a more authentic metalfan. Another major issue is the indiffernt reaction of metalfans to their stigmatization and the prejudices that exist, which is in conclusion also explained through the authenticity concept.Show less
