The Role of First-Person Depression Storytelling Online Video on Men’s Self-Stigma of Seeking Help, Traditional Masculinity Ideology, and Psychological Help-Seeking Attitudes

Abstract

Men are reluctant to seek psychological help as doing so may label them as weak and vulnerable. Thus, we tested whether a first-person storytelling video could buffer men’s self-stigma of seeking help associated with traditional masculinity ideology. Adult men ( N = 396; Mage = 35.62) were randomly assigned and exposed to one of three conditions: (1) control (nothing), (2) male-sensitive brochure, (3) male-sensitive first-person storytelling video. Controlling for pre-existing depressive symptoms, multi-group path analyses with bootstrapping revealed that greater traditional masculinity ideology was associated with lower psychological help-seeking attitudes via increased self-stigma of seeking help, but this indirect effect was not significant for the video group. The direct effect was significantly lower in the video group compared to the brochure and control groups. The findings suggest that brief male-sensitive storytelling videos may be useful clinical and psychoeducational tools to help men re-examine their resistance toward seeking psychological help for depression.

Fostering Asian American Emerging Adults’ Advocacy Against Anti-Black Racism Through Digital Storytelling

“…Given the need for tools to promote advocacy against anti-Black racism, we sought to test if a digital storytelling video on anti-Black racism would increase advocacy among Asian American emerging adults. In an era when social media has a significant influence on people’s beliefs and attitudes, stories shared through videos on social media platforms may play a key role in shaping people’s beliefs and behaviors toward sensitive social issues (Keum et al, 2022; Keum & Ogrodniczuk, 2023). Specifically, storytelling videos on racial trauma likely help people engage more deeply with the issues of racism embedded in these stories, persuading them to act against racism.…”