Investigating The Influence of Stigma Associated with Mental Health on Help-Seeking Behavior in Individuals with Different Personality Traits

The study examined the relationship between personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), stigma associated with mental health, and help-seeking behavior (seeking help for personal/emotional problems and during suicidal thoughts) in a sample of 99 participants. The descriptive statistics showed the mean, standard deviation, variance, skewness, and kurtosis for the study variables. The correlation analysis revealed several key findings, Neuroticism was negatively correlated with seeking help for personal/emotional problems and during suicidal thoughts, suggesting that individuals higher in neuroticism are less likely to seek help for mental health concerns. Extraversion was positively correlated with seeking help during suicidal thoughts, indicating that those higher in extraversion are more likely to seek help when experiencing suicidal ideation. Openness was positively correlated with seeking help for personal/emotional problems and during suicidal thoughts, suggesting that individuals higher in openness are more likely to seek help for their mental health. Agreeableness was positively correlated with seeking help for personal/emotional problems and during suicidal thoughts, indicating that those higher in agreeableness are more likely to seek help for their mental health concerns. Stigma was positively correlated with neuroticism and negatively correlated with extraversion and openness, implying that individuals higher in neuroticism may experience more stigma, while those higher in extraversion and openness may experience less stigma. These findings have important implications for understanding the factors that influence help-seeking behavior and the role of stigma in the mental health help-seeking process.