Women More Willing Than Men to Engage With People Who Disclose Schizophrenia, Study Finds

A new study suggests women are more willing than men to engage with creatively inclined individuals who openly disclose having schizophrenia, particularly when those individuals are struggling rather than successful. The findings shed new light on how gender and perceived creativity may shape mental illness stigma.

The study, titled Salience of the Benefits of Psychotic Traits Buffers Against Mental Illness Stigma, was conducted by A. Hicks and colleagues D. F. Sacco, K. N. Boykin, O. Olabegi, Z. Buckner and M. Brown. Published in EvoS Journal: Evolutionary Studies and Higher Education, the research adds to evidence that stigma can vary depending on context, perceived contributions, familiarity and patterns of social support.

The researchers examined how people responded to a social media profile of an aspiring writer who either did or did not disclose having schizophrenia. The profile also varied according to whether the writer’s poem had been accepted for publication or rejected.

How the online experiment worked

Researchers recruited 308 adults through Prolific Academic, including 167 women, with an average age of 35 years. Each participant received $1.50 and was asked to evaluate a fictional Facebook-style post from a user named Taylor Ross, who was presented with a gender-neutral profile image.

In the post, Taylor described working on poetry and provided a brief update about their life. Depending on the experimental condition, Taylor either disclosed struggling with schizophrenia or made no mention of mental illness. The profile also stated either that Taylor’s poem had been accepted for publication or that it had been rejected.

Participants then rated how much they would like to interact with Taylor in several ways, including liking or commenting on the post, becoming friends with Taylor or considering Taylor as a potential romantic partner. They also completed a scale assessing how strongly they endorsed common stereotypes about schizophrenia across both positive and negative characteristics.

Gender differences and creative success

Across the experimental conditions, women consistently expressed greater interest in interacting with Taylor than men did. This pattern appeared regardless of whether schizophrenia was disclosed or whether the poem had been accepted or rejected, suggesting a broader gender difference in willingness to engage socially.

However, a more nuanced pattern emerged when researchers examined the condition in which Taylor disclosed schizophrenia and experienced an unsuccessful creative outcome. In this particular scenario, women showed a markedly greater desire to interact with Taylor than men.

When Taylor was presented as both creative and successful, the gender differences largely disappeared. Men and women reported similar levels of willingness to engage regardless of whether schizophrenia was mentioned, suggesting that visible creative achievement may reduce some social hesitation.

Mental illness stigma and creativity

The study was grounded in evolutionary and social psychological theories proposing that traits associated with mental illness can sometimes coexist with characteristics considered beneficial, including heightened creativity or unconventional thinking. Psychotic traits, including those associated with schizophrenia, are often stigmatized while also being connected with originality and emotional intensity.

Researchers led by A. Hicks examined whether highlighting creative success could buffer people with psychotic traits against social rejection. They expected that demonstrating creative value might counter some negative stereotypes and increase willingness to interact, particularly in friendship or romantic contexts.

Overall, participants’ average willingness to engage with Taylor leaned toward the negative end of the scale, indicating continuing reluctance to interact, particularly when schizophrenia was disclosed. Nevertheless, creative aspirations and, under some conditions, creative success appeared to modestly influence responses.

Role of personal experience with mental illness

Participants who reported having friends with mental illness showed greater openness toward Taylor when the fictional writer was creatively successful and did not disclose schizophrenia compared with when Taylor was portrayed as unsuccessful without a mental health disclosure. This suggests that familiarity with mental illness may increase sensitivity to indicators of social value, such as achievement.

The stereotype assessment also indicated that many participants continued to view people with schizophrenia as substantially different from the general population. Such beliefs can encourage social distancing and reinforce barriers in employment, relationships and online interactions.

At the same time, the relatively small but meaningful effects involving creative success and gender suggest that stigma is not uniform. Women’s greater willingness to engage, particularly with a struggling creative person who disclosed schizophrenia, may reflect higher levels of empathy or a stronger orientation toward providing social support.

Limitations and implications for stigma

The authors caution that participants evaluated Taylor solely on the basis of a brief, hypothetical social media post containing limited information. Real-world interactions involve considerably richer information, nonverbal signals and repeated contact, all of which could influence judgments about people with mental illness.

The study also focused on a single diagnosis and one form of creativity: poetry. Responses could differ for other conditions, including depression or bipolar disorder, as well as other creative fields such as music, visual arts or entrepreneurship.

Despite these limitations, the findings add nuance to discussions surrounding mental health stigma. They suggest that highlighting creative potential and presenting more humanizing narratives may help reduce social distance, particularly among groups already more inclined toward empathy and engagement.

The authors argue that public campaigns and digital platforms could draw attention to creative work by people with severe mental illness as one way of challenging stereotypes. At the same time, they emphasize that focusing on strengths should not minimize the genuine difficulties people may experience or place responsibility for gaining acceptance solely on those living with these conditions.