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Mosh Pits and Mental Health: Metal Communities and Emerging Adults' Well-Being
Abstract
In this thesis I will examine relationships between metal music and community participation and the mental well-being of so-called “emerging adults” within these communities. Building upon previous research on these relationships, I examine how emerging adult mental well-being is affected – both positively and negatively – by engagement and involvement in metal music communities. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, I employ ethnographic fieldwork, person-centered interviews, and survey methods to describe how not just metal music but other “ritual” activities of metal music culture enact euphoric and also sometimes potentially detrimental effects on the mental health of emerging adults within these communities. Through these methods, I aim to detail how in a paradoxical sense the chaos and aggression inherent in metal music can confer therapeutic calm to individuals through identification with the music, the group, and the performances conducted within these metal music communities.
The introductory Chapter One will first serve to provide an overview of what is exactly meant when describing heavy metal music communities, as ambiguities exist not only in the common understanding of the subculture, but also in the academic literature. In addition to this, a brief history of metal music communities will be discussed, detailing public perceptions, stigmas, and moral panics associated with the music and its fans. The chapter will be closed with a discussion of the research site, scope, and overall aims of the study, namely to provide greater insights into the mental health and well-being of emerging adults within these music scenes.
Chapter Two consists of a review of existing literature on this subject, accounting for research within psychological anthropology, sociology, public health, popular music studies, and adolescent and emerging adult psychology. This Chapter will describe not just previous studies on heavy metal music communities, but should also provide a foundation on which this current study rests. Drawing upon literature and theory from these fields, the question of emerging adult mental health within these music scenes can be better understood, not just in terms of accuracy from a scholarly perspective, but also driven by emic perspective from the field.
In seeking answers to these questions, Chapter Three will discuss the methodology and research design of this study. Attention will be given to the study population, site, locales, and scope and the rationale for using particular methods employed in this study. Chapter Four follows, detailing the analyses of data generated from the field and the results gathered throughout each step of research. Results will be described in both quantitative and qualitative terms, hoping to thus better clarify this study’s central question.
Limitations of the research will be described in the concluding segments of this chapter. Finally, Chapter Five will discuss the results of this study in relation to theory and previous research, future impacts and considerations in this field, and concluding remarks regarding the relationship between metal music and the mental health of emerging adults.
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The global mental health movement has the mission to reduce the gap between the burden of mental illness and the availability of effective mental health services. This mission entails advocating for increased funding for mental health services and personnel, expanding research to develop evidence‐based practices for low‐resource settings. It has been proposed that this can be accomplished by advocating for increased funding for mental health services and personnel, expanding research to determine evidence‐based mental health treatments, development of government mental health policies, and advancing the human rights of persons with mental illness. Key topics from medical anthropology related to global mental health include universalism versus cultural relativism in psychopathology; culture‐bound syndromes and cultural concepts of distress; healing, belief, and meaning in ethnomedical traditions; critique of psychiatry and social–political–economic construction of labels; social suffering and structural violence; humanitarian disasters, complex emergencies, and the mental health and psychosocial support movement; and definitions of culture.
This study aimed to: (i)determine the prevalence, socio-demographic and clinical correlates of internalized stigma and (ii)explore the association between internalized stigma and quality of life, general functioning, hope and self-esteem, among a multi-ethnic Asian population of patients with mental disorders. This cross-sectional, survey recruited adult patients (n=280) who were seeking treatment at outpatient and affiliated clinics of the only tertiary psychiatric hospital in Singapore. Internalized stigma was measured using the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness scale. 43.6% experienced moderate to high internalized stigma. After making adjustments in logistic regression analysis, results revealed there were no significant socio-demographic or clinical correlates relating to internalized stigma. Individual logistic regression models were used to determine whether psychosocial variables were associated with internalized stigma. A negative relationship between quality of life, self-esteem and general functioning and internalized stigma was observed whereby lower scores were associated with higher internalized stigma. In the final regression model, which included all psychosocial variables together, self-esteem was the only variable significantly and negatively associated with internalized stigma. The results of this study contribute to our understanding of the role internalized stigma plays in patients with mental illness, and the impact it can have on psychosocial aspects of their lives.
Religion is positively correlated with subjective well-being across a variety of contexts, but convincing causal models are lacking. Some researchers have suggested that religion may boost self-control, and thus well-being, by requiring effortful rituals. This article proposes that costly signaling theory provides a vital explanatory tool for understanding these relationships. Signaling theories posit that religious adherents signal their commitment to religious collectives through difficult or anhedonic activities and rituals, creating a cost barrier for entry which protects religious communities against free riders. Because costly signaling behaviors require the inhibition of prepotent responses and intentional exposure to aversive stimuli, committed adherents build self-control over time. Subjective well-being is thus modeled as a longitudinal product of subjective investment in a religious social collective and the self-regulation abilities that emerge from signaling that investment. This emphasis on a feedback cycle driven by social signaling represents a novel contribution to investigations of religion and well-being. New longitudinal research in social investment theory and self-control lends the model conceptual credibility. ARTICLE HISTORY
Neo-Pentecostalism is notable for its emphasis on “prosperity theology,” the belief that economic prosperity is available to the faithful. Members give monetary offerings in exchange for later blessings of financial prosperity. Despite the faith's rapid growth worldwide, the influence of prosperity theology on believers’ lives is still being understood. This mixed-method study examines Brazilian neo-Pentecostal rituals through the dual paradigms of religious signaling and cognitive dissonance theory. Signaling theory posits that costly behaviors, such as giving significant sums of money, are honest signs of an individual's intent toward group cooperation. Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that individuals will justify the costly signals required by overvaluing membership in the group. The integration of these two approaches provides a comprehensive model for costly ritual participation by addressing both social and individual motivating factors. This study furthers our understanding of neo-Pentecostalism by examining how prosperity theology rituals influence behaviors, cognitions, and the psychological well-being. Neopentecostalismo é notável por sua ênfase na “teologia da prosperidade,” a crença de que a prosperidade econômica está disponível para os fiéis. Os membros dão ofertas monetárias em troca de bênçãos financeiras. Este estudo de método misto examina os rituais neopentecostais através de dois paradigmas: sinalização custosa e dissonância cognitiva. A teoria da sinalização custosa postula que os comportamentos caros, tais como dar somas significativas de dinheiro, são sinais honestos de intenções para a cooperação e participação dentro do grupo. A teoria da dissonância cognitiva sugere que as pessoas vão justificar os sinais caros exigidos pela supervalorização no grupo. A integração dessas duas abordagens oferece um modelo mais abrangente para a participação nos rituais, abordando ambos os fatores sociais e individuais de motivação. Este estudo possibilita a compreensão do evangelho da prosperidade, examinando como seu ritual influencia comportamentos, cognições e o bem-estar psicológico dos neopentecostais brasileiros.
Human cognition appears to involve two different kinds of cognitive structures. One kind of structure consists of the organization of a small number of elements into a gestalt that functions as a “chunk” in short term or working memory. Examples are objects like the human face, events like something falling down, relations like X happening before Y, and so on. Typically these cognitive chunks are symbolized in language by single words or short phrases and can be unpacked into the kinds of simple universal concepts or “primes” outlined by Wierzbicka (1996).
The way that the social stigma of mental illness is related with the self-stigma, which in turn affects self-esteem and self-efficacy of mental patients was investigated. A sample of 66 patients in the Adult Psychiatric Clinic of the Thessaloniki General Hospital "G. Papanikolaou" was participated in this descriptive association study, with cross-sectional comparisons. The sample comprised of patients who were hospitalized or visited the Clinic as out-patients during the period that the study was undertaken. A tool for measuring the basic demographic, social and clinical characteristics of the participants was designed and used. Additionally, the Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale, SSMIS, Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale, RSE and the General Self-Efficacy Sherer Scale, GSESH were used for measuring self-stigma, self-esteem and self-efficacy respectively. Results showed that self-esteem and self-efficacy were highly associated with each another. Self-esteem and self-efficacy co varied. Greater self-stigma was associated with lower self-esteem and selfefficacy confirming the power of this relationship which is connected with patients' psychological empowerment and acts as mediator between patients' self-categorization as "mentally ill" and their self-esteem and self-efficacy. Additionally, a mild negative association between self-esteem, self-efficacy and age was found while higher educational level was associated with greater selfefficacy. Greater self-stigma along with lower educational level were the most significant predictors of both self-esteem and self-efficacy of mental patients, as shown by regression analysis. Some of our results, such as the percentage of low self-esteem (30.3%), were different from previous relevant data (9.1-24%), probably due to differences in sample's cultural characteristics and composition, research tools used, and the degree of mentally ill patients' reaction to social stigma perception. Despite its methodological limitations, the present study showed that self-stigma contributes to low self-efficacy and self-esteem of the mentally ill. It is thus a fair objective on the one hand to reduce stigmatization for the benefit of patients, and secondly, to raise public awareness in order to minimize the overall stigmatization towards mental illness, which is the primary cause of self-stigma.
Originally published as: Sara Kuppin, DrPH, and Richard M. Carpiano, PhD, MA, MPH. Public Conceptions of Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse, Their Causes and Treatments: Findings from the 1996 General Social Survey. Am J Public Health. 2006;96:1766–1771. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2004.060855.
Objectives. We examined the degree to which lay beliefs about the causes of disorders may predict beliefs about what constitutes appropriate treatment.
Methods. We analyzed randomized vignette data from the MacArthur Mental Health Module of the 1996 General Social Survey (n=1010).
Results. Beliefs in biological causes (i.e., chemical imbalance, genes) were significantly associated with the endorsement of professional, biologically focused treatments (e.g., prescription medication, psychiatrists, and mental hospital admissions). Belief that the way a person was raised was the cause of a condition was the only nonbiologically based causal belief associated with any treatment recommendations (talking to a clergy member).