Examination of the relationship between the fear of stigma of seeking psychological help and gender roles in young adults

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between self-stigmatization in seeking psychological help and attitudes towards gender roles. In addition, it is aimed to examine the attitudes of individuals towards seeking psychological help, their perceptions of social stigmatization in seeking psychological help and whether the perceptions differ with variables such as gender, level of education received, socioeconomic level, family type, number and order of siblings. This study was conducted with the relational model, which is one of the quantitative research designs. In the research, self-stigmatization in seeking psychological help is based on the data obtained with the Self-Stigmatization in Seeking Psychological Help Scale; attitude towards seeking psychological help, Attitude Towards Seeking Psychological Counseling - Short Form; attitude towards gender roles, Gender Roles Scale; perception of social stigma in seeking psychological help, Social Stigma in Seeking Psychological Counseling Help scale. The sample of the research consists of 513 people with various demographic characteristics living in many parts of Turkey. The sample consisted of 338 female and 175 male participants, with ages ranging between 18-30. When the findings of the study are examined, statistically significant differences were found between the four main variables of social stigmatization due to seeking psychological support, attitudes towards gender roles, attitudes towards seeking psychological help and selfstigmatization due to seeking psychological support. The other problem situations of the study and the sub-problems including demographic variables were examined in terms of the three main variables of attitude towards gender roles, selfstigmatization due to seeking psychological support and attitude towards seeking psychological help. As a result of this examination, the results summarized below were reached: There are statistically significant differences between the main variable of attitude towards gender roles and gender, the person who predominantly cared for the individual in the first years of life (mother, father, caregiver and other adults) and whether or not the individual had received psychological help from a mental health professional before. The relationship between the other main variable, self-stigmatization due to receiving psychological help, and demographic variables was examined with the appropriate T-test, ANOVA and Scheffe tests. Accordingly, there is a statistically significant difference between selfstigmatization due to receiving psychological help and gender and having received any psychological support before. When the relationships between the last main variable, attitude towards receiving psychological help, and demographic variables are examined, there are statistically significant differences between attitude towards receiving psychological help and gender, relationship status and having received any psychological help before.