Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Cottrell, Catherine

Keywords

Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Stigma, Identity

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an umbrella term for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis: two chronic, concealable physical illnesses. The nature of the diseases' symptoms and unknown cause of the diseases make them stigmatized conditions. Fear of stigma and resulting consequences can drive people to conceal their disease from others. However, disease can be included as part of the self concept, and according to self verification theory, the more central the disease is to a person's identity, the more likely it is that they will disclose their disease to others in order to get support and validation. Seventy seven people with IBD took online surveys regarding the centrality of their disease to their identity, their disclosure status, and perceived stigma levels from a number of social groups. Results show increased perceived stigma is predictive of lessened disclosure for significant others, friends, bosses and supervisors, and coworkers and classmates. Identity centrality is predictive of disclosure to significant others, friends, and bosses. Perceived stigma and identity centrality interact to predict disclosure to significant others and friends, such that people of low and moderate disease centrality disclose less when they anticipate more stigma and people of high disease centrality show no relationship between stigma and disclosure. This research allows researchers to better understand the impact of having a stigmatized invisible illness on identity and when people with an invisible illness deem it important to present that identity to others.

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