Religiosity and mental health stigma among adults in Malaysia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22219/jipt.v12i2.32256Keywords:
Adults, mental health stigma, multi-religious, religiosityAbstract
This study explored religiosity's impact on mental health stigma among 451 adults of various religions in Malaysia using quantitative methods. Participants, including Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians, completed the Centrality of Religiosity and Perceived Devaluation-Discrimination scales via an online Google form. Findings indicated high religiosity and moderate mental health stigma levels overall. Pearson correlations showed no significant relationship between religiosity and stigma across all groups. However, Buddhists demonstrated a small to moderate correlation (r = 0.27, p < 0.05) between Public Practice of religiosity and stigma, while Hindus showed a similar effect (r = 0.24, p < 0.05) with Experience of religiosity. One-way ANOVA revealed no stigma differences between religious groups. Addressing mental health stigma is crucial, given its impact on help-seeking behaviors. Future research should focus on fostering inclusive attitudes towards mental illness while respecting religious beliefs.
Downloads
References
Abbasi, S. B., Kazmi, F., Wilson, N., & Khan, F. (2019). Centrality of religiosity scale (CRS) confirmatory factor analysis. Sociology International Journal, 3(4),319-324. https://doi.org/10.15406/sij.2019.03.00193
Adu, P., Jurcik, T., & Grigoryev, D. (2021). Mental health literacy in Ghana: Implications for religiosity, education and stigmatization. Transcultural Psychiatry, 58(4), 516–531. https://doi.org/10.1177/13634615211022177
Al-Natour, A., Abuhammad, S., & Al-Modallal, H. (2021). Religiosity and stigma toward patients with mental illness among undergraduate university students. Heliyon, 7(3), e06565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06565
Berry, C., Michelson, D., Othman, E., Tan, J. C., Gee, B., Hodgekins, J., Byrne, R. E., Ng, A. L., Marsh, N. V., Coker, S., & Fowler, D. (2019). Views of young people in Malaysia on Mental Health, help‐seeking and unusual psychological experiences. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 14(1), 115–123. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.12832
Bharadwaj, P., Pai, M. M., & Suziedelyte, A. (2017). Mental health stigma. Economics Letters, 59, 57-60, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2017.06.028
Brown, C., Conner, K. O., Copeland, V. C., Grote, N., Beach, S., Battista, D., & Reynolds, C. F. (2010). Depression stigma, race, and treatment-seeking behavior and attitudes. Journal of Community Psychology, 38(3), 350–368. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20368
Caplan, S. (2019). Intersection of cultural and religious beliefs about mental health: Latinos in the faith-based setting. Hispanic Health Care International, 17(1), 4–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/1540415319828265
Cinnirella, M., & Loewenthal, K. M. (1999). Religious and ethnic group influences on beliefs about mental illness: A qualitative interview study. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 72(4), 505–524. https://doi.org/10.1348/000711299160202
Ghasemi, A., & Zahediasl, S. (2012). Normality tests for statistical analysis: A guide for non-statisticians. International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, 10(2), 486–489. https://doi.org/10.5812/ijem.3505
Gierk, B., Löwe, B., Murray, A. M., & Kohlmann, S. (2018). Assessment of perceived mental health-related stigma: The stigma-9 questionnaire (Stig-9). Psychiatry Research, 270, 822–830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.10.026
Haider-Markel, D. P., & Joslyn, M. R. (2008). Beliefs about the origins of homosexuality and support for gay rights: An empirical test of attribution theory. Public Opinion Quarterly, 72(2), 291–310. https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfn015
Hanafiah, A. N., & Van Bortel, T. (2015). A qualitative exploration of the perspectives of mental health professionals on stigma and discrimination of mental illness in Malaysia. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 9(10), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-015-0002-1
Huber, S., & Huber, O. W. (2012). The centrality of religiosity scale (CRS). Religions, 3(3), 710–724. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel3030710
Kim, T. K. (2017). Understanding one-way ANOVA using conceptual figures. Korean Journal of Anesthesiology, 70(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2017.70.1.22
Knifton, L. (2012). Understanding and addressing the stigma of mental illness with ethnic minority communities. Health Sociology Review, 21(3), 287–298. https://doi.org/10.5172/hesr.2012.21.3.287
Koenig, H. G., & Al-Shuhaib, S. S. (2018). Religiosity and mental health in Islam. Islamophobia and Psychiatry, 55–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00512-2_5
Leeming, D. A. (2014). Monotheism. Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, 1126–1127. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_435
Link, B. G., Cullen, F. T., Struening, E., Shrout, P. E., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (1989). A modified labeling theory approach to mental disorders: An empirical assessment. American Sociological Review, 54(3), 400. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095613
Mathison, L. A. (2016). Mental health stigma in religious communities: Development of a quantitative measure (thesis). Iowa State University Digital Repository, Ames, Iowa. https://doi.org/10.31274/etd-180810-5395
Mannarini, S., & Rossi, A. (2019). Assessing mental illness stigma: A complex issue. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 2722. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02722
Peteet, J. R. (2019). Approaching religiously reinforced mental health stigma: A conceptual framework. Psychiatric Services, 70(9), 846–848. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201900005
Proudfoot, W., & Shaver, P. R. (2019). Attribution theory and the psychology of religion. The Psychology of Religion, 139–152. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429495915-11
Raaj, S., Navanathan, S., Tharmaselan, M., & Lally, J. (2021). Mental disorders in Malaysia: An increase in lifetime prevalence. BJPsych International, 18(4), 97–99. https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2021.4
Schmitt, J. (2015). Attribution theory. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118785317.weom090014
Shah & Timothy S. (2020). Malaysia religious freedom landscape Report. Religious Freedom Institute. https://religiousfreedominstitute.org/malaysia-religious-freedom-landscape-report/
Smart, N. (2023, April 20). polytheism. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism
Star Media Group. (2022, March 22). Mental health cases jump nearly 200%. The Star. Retrieved November 23, 2022, from https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro- news/2022/03/22/mental-health-cases-jump-nearly-200.
Subu, M.A., Wati, D.F., Netrida, N. et al. (2021). Types of stigma experienced by patients with mental illness and mental health nurses in Indonesia: A qualitative content analysis. Int J Ment Health Syst 15, 77 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-021-00502-x
Swank, J. M., & Mullen, P. R. (2017). Evaluating evidence for conceptually related constructs using bivariate correlations. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 50(4), 270–274. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2017.1339562
Switzer, B., & Boysen, G. A. (2009). The impact of religiosity and attribution theory on attitudes toward addiction and cancer. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 12(3), 241–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674670802428449
Wang, Z., Chen, H., Koenig, H., & Phillips, M. R. (2019). Relationship of religiosity to mental health literacy, stigma, social distance, and occupational restrictiveness in Ningxia Province, China. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 22(4), 400–415. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2019.1593338
Weiner, B., Perry, R. P., & Magnusson, J. (1988). An attributional analysis of reactions to stigmas. Journal of Personality andd Social Psychology, 55(5), 738–748. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.55.5.738
Wesselmann, E. D., & Graziano, W. G. (2010). Sinful and/or possessed? religious beliefs and mental illness stigma. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 29(4), 402–437. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2010.29.4.402
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Nur Syafiqa Mohd Arif, Salami Mutiu Olagoke
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with Jurnal Ilmiah Psikologi Terapan agree to the following terms:
- For all articles published in Jurnal Ilmiah Psikologi Terapan, copyright is retained by the authors. Authors give permission to the publisher to announce the work with conditions. When the manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic transfer of the publishing right to the publisher.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.