(PS6-D87) Challenging Stigmatization of Self-damaging Behaviors: The Protective Effect of Genderqueer Identity

Background: This study examines how societal expectations and gender binary norms affect self-damaging behaviours (SDBs) in university students, using experimental vignettes. The study also explores the role of genderqueer identity in how individuals perceive others' experiences of SDBs.

Methods: Young adults read four validated vignettes that evoke binary gender norms (the behaviours are associated with women or men) related to non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) or disordered eating (DE) behaviours, with each depicting a different SDB: feminized NSSI (self-cutting), masculinized NSSI (wall punching), feminized DE (strict calorie restriction) and masculinized DE (strict protein consumption). Participants were randomly assigned to one of three pronoun conditions (she/her, he/him, or they/them, each with 90 participants, N = 270) to investigate how societal expectations and gender binary norms affected their perceptions of the four NSSI and DE vignettes. The Attribution Questionnaire (AQ - 27 ; Corrigan et al., 2003) to assess participants' perceptions of the vignette protagonists. Participants' genderqueer identity was measured using the Gender Queer Identity Scale (GQI; McGuire et al., 2019). The Opinions about mental illness scale (OMI; Cohen et al., 1963) assessed participants' stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness.

Gender queer identity and mental health stigmatization will be examined as possible moderators of the relationship between SDB-pronoun condition congruence and incongruence and negative attributions based on the AQ-27. We will use bivariate analysis to examine the relationship between independent variables (pronoun condition, genderqueer identity score, and OMI score) and dependent variable (AQ - 27 score) and multivariate analysis to determine the combined effect of all independent variables.

Results: Data collection is ongoing and is expected to be completed in April 2023. The study hypothesizes that vignettes with congruent gender and SDB presentation (e.g., she/her pronouns and feminized NSSI or DE behaviour) will be judged more positively than when SDBs are incongruent with the protagonist’s gender (e.g., he/him pronouns and feminized NSSI or DE behaviour). Vignettes with non-binary protagonists are expected to be judged less favourably than vignettes with cisgender males and females. A non-binary person with stereotypical feminine SDBs is expected to be judged more negatively than a non-binary person with stereotypical masculine SDBs. Participants whose own gender identity is higher in gender queerness and who endorse lower mental illness stigmatization are expected to have less negative perceptions of the vignette protagonists. 

Significance: This study aims to promote having a more flexible understanding of gender as a possible protective factor in an individual endorsing stigmatizing and negative attributions towards individuals experiencing SDBs.