COLLEGE STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD SEEKING PROFESSIONAL HELP: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CLASS, CLASSISM, AND STIGMA

View/ Open
Date
2016Author
Choi, Na-Yeun
Advisor
Miller, Matthew J.
DRUM DOI
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Research on attitudes toward seeking professional help among college students has examined the influence of social class and stigma. This study tested 4 theoretically and empirically derived structural equation models of college students’ attitudes toward seeking counseling with a sample of 2230 incoming university students. The models represented competing hypotheses regarding the manners in which objective social class, subjective social class, classism, public stigma, stigma by close others, and self-stigma related to attitudes toward seeking professional help. Findings supported the social class direct and indirect effects model, as well as the notion that classism and stigma domains could explain the indirect relationships between social class and attitudes. Study limitations, future directions for research, and implications for counseling are discussed.