Explications causales et prise de risque relative au recours à la dépigmentation volontaire de la peau au cameroun

Abstract

The media coverage of the phenomenon of voluntary skin depigmentation (VD), we observe an increase in risk-taking behaviour among individuals despite the harmfulness of this practice. The aim of this thesis is to understand what might justify risk-taking about VD. To do this, three empirical studies will be conducted. The construction of the questionnaire (study 2 and study 3) was inspired by the theory of planned behaviour, principally the approach proposed by Ajzen (1991). In the first study, we conducted an exploratory survey of 08 respondents in Foumbot. The data were collected from individual interviews and were used to evaluate the interviewees' discourse in order to identify the causes (internal or external) that the individuals put forward to explain their recourse to VD. The results reveal that the external causes of VD in the study were: imitation, conformism or following, advertising of lightening products, the search for beauty, seduction, the search for a job, social pressure, the bad climate, colonial heritage, self-medication, rivalry, social recognition, family or religious events, the search for a partner. Internal causes included low self-esteem, feelings of inferiority and invulnerability. The respondents also suggested ways of preventing VD. In the second study, we examined the link between feelings of invulnerability and risk- taking in relation to skin VD. The data used in this study were collected from 400 female respondents in Foumbot who may or may not use skin lightening products, using a purposive sampling technique. The data collected were processed by regression analysis, structural equation modelling and one-way ANOVA using IBM SPSS Statistic 28.0 and IBM SPSS Amos 24.0 software. All the working hypotheses were thus validated (=,281 ; p ˂ ,000 ; =,271 ; p ˂ ,000 ; =,096 ; p ˂ ,001 ; b = 0,729 ; t = 3,932 ; p < ,001 ; R2=,208 ; b = ,118 ; t = 2,145 ; p < ,001 ; R2=,312). The third study examined the effect of beliefs in divine control on risk-taking in relation to the use of skin VD. Using a purposive sampling technique, 387 participants using lightening or non-lightening products were recruited in Foumbot. Data were processed using a one-factor ANOVA with IBM SPSS Statistic 28.0 software. All working hypotheses were confirmed (F (3.86) = 5.013; p=,007; F (3,86) = 23,669; p=,000).