This study examines the interactions between homeless pet owners and the domiciled public with a focus on how the activities of pet ownership help construct positive personal identities. Homeless people are often criticized for having pets. They counter these attacks using open and contained responses to stigmatization. More often, they redefine pet ownership to incorporate how they provide for...

AIMS The aim of the study was to explore whether the concept of heavy substance use over time can be used as definition of substance use disorder. METHODS Narrative review. RESULTS Heavy use over time clearly underlies the neurobiological changes associated with current thinking of substance use disorders. In addition, there is evidence that heavy use over time can explain the majority of s...

Objectives: Stigma and discrimination because of mental illness is still prevalent even in high-income countries where a lot of emphasis has been given to anti-stigma activities and measures to reduce the marginalization of these persons. One aspect of the stigma issue is the self-stigmatization that persons suffering from mental illness are experiencing. In this study two different societies h...

The present study examined the factors related to the negative attitude of society towards sexual minorities living in India. This study also explored further the impact of such stigmatization and carrying homosexual identity on the lives of lesbian and gay individuals. To fulfill the objectives, two studies were conducted. Study 1 included 24 heterosexuals and this study scrutinized the societ...

After people experience social rejection, one tactic to restore a sense of belonging is to selectively attend to and readily perceive cues that connote acceptance. The multimotive model of responses to rejection suggests that contextual features of the rejection are important determinants of how people are motivated to respond. According to this model, when rejection is construed as pervasive a...

Given the rise in obesity rates in North America, concerns about obesity-related costs to the health care system are being stressed in both the popular media and the scientific literature. With such constant calls to action, care must be taken not to increase stigmatization of obese people, particularly of children. While there is much written about stigma and how it is exacerbated, there are f...

Obesity is currently a significant public health problem, as we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of obese and overweight children worldwide. Childhood obesity is more than a physical problem. The psychosocial consequences of overweight and obesity are less clear than physiological consequences. In this review paper we aim to describe the main psychosocial dimensions of childhood...

The authors conducted 2 studies to examine the stigmatization of the female and male body using photographic stimuli of real people. In the first study, 75 female and 55 male undergraduates rated a series of 50 photographs of women ranging in body mass index (BMI) on 3 items: gets teased, lonely, and lazy. Both male and female observers rated bodies on either side of BMI 19–20 kg/m2 higher for ...

Introduction Research has demonstrated a link between psoriasis and a multitude of psychological impairments; however, relatively few studies have examined the importance of site of skin lesions for negative psychological outcomes in psoriasis patients. Aim To investigate relationships between anatomical location of psoriatic lesions and experiences of stigmatization, negative emotional attit...

BACKGROUND A child's obesity is generally perceived by the public to be under the control of the child's parents. While the health consequences of childhood obesity are well understood, less is known about psychological and social effects of having an obese child on parents. We set out to characterize stigma and courtesy stigma experiences surrounding obesity among children with Bardet-Biedl sy...