Preventing stigma and dehumanization towards persons with alcoholic use disorder: A multicategorization proposition

International audiencePatients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are suffering from social stigma (Schomerus et al., 2010) relying notably on negative stereotypes concerning their high potential of dangerousness and unpredictability notably compared to other mental disorders (Schomerus et al., 2011). Recent models suggest that AUD patients could also suffer from dehumanization processes (Fontesse et al., 2019). The present research has two aims. First, dimensions of both stereotypes and dehumanisation implied in stigma towards AUD patients will be specified. Second, strategies to prevent both processes will be tested.Results stated that even among a population aware of mental disorders (N = 132 students in psychology; mage=18.94, SDage = 1,14), people designed as “alcoholic persons” suffered of low competence and ambivalent warmth attributions (Stereotype Content Model; Fiske et al., 2002), low uniquely human and human nature traits attributions (dehumanization dual model; Haslam, 2006) and low agentism but high experience attributions (mind perception model; Gray, Gray, & Wegner 2007) confirming the global stigmatisation they have to endure. In order to thwart these phenomena, a prevention strategy relying on multicategorization (i.e., the multiple criteria to categorize others; Crisp & Hewstone, 2007), and further associated with individuation (Parker, Monteith, & South, 2018), was tested. Whereas no benefits of multicategorization strategy were evidenced on agency and experience capacities attributions, data demonstrated its efficiency to enhance attributions of competence, warmth, uniquely human and human nature traits of people designed as “alcoholic persons”. The added value of the individuating information is unclear. Implications of these findings for the practitioner will be discussed