SEEING THROUGH STIGMA: AN EXPLORATION INTO HOW BIAS AGAINST PEDOPHILIC DISORDER ALTERS EMOTIONAL RECOGNITION IN OTHERS

Abstract This study investigates whether a stigma against pedophilic disorder impairs one’s ability of emotional recognition and examines this impairment of accuracy and reaction times varies across different modalities of emotional presentation. Using a repeated measures design, 24 participants were presented with narratives about two individuals, one with a non-offending pedophilic disorder and another with alcohol addiction. Participants completed emotional recognition tasks across audio and video, video only, and audio only stimuli modalities, both before and after exposure to the narratives of either mental illnesses. The results revealed that there was a significant interaction for both reaction times and accuracy in recognizing emotions, with audio and video modality stimuli leading the quickest and most accurate recognition of emotions. An interaction between stimuli and emotion was found, suggesting that certain emotions, like disgust and surprise, were more accurately recognized in multimodal presentations. Participants in the control group, that is alcohol addiction, reported higher levels of anger and disgust, which reflected the influence of a framing issue on emotional responses. These findings suggest that stigma can bias emotional recognition, particularly in the absence of a multimodal stimuli. The study highlights the importance of addressing stigma in clinical and social settings to ensure accurate emotional assessment and improve societal interactions with stigmatized individuals.