Mental illness and the impact of believing others know about it.

Abstract

Two studies arc reported, the second basically a replication of the first, the purpose of which was to measure the impact upon a mental patient of believing others have become aware of his psychiatric history. The procedure entailed telling the patient the interest was in determining if another person would behave the same toward mental patients and controls. Half of the 5s were told the other person (always the same confederate) knew they were patients and the remainder that he believed them to be nonpatients. Believing others were aware of their status caused patients to feel less appreciated, to find a task more difficult, to perform more poorly, and they were perceived as more tense, anxious, and poorly adjusted by an observer. Some implications of the study are considered and suggestions for future research are made.

Detecting and Experiencing Prejudice

“…Indeed, whereas people with visible social stigmas are often vulnerable to others' negative views of them, and the implications these may have, individuals with concealed stigmas are not so easily or frequently treated on the basis of their socially stigmatized identity (Farina, Gliha, Boudreau, Allen, & Sherman, 1971;Jones et al, 1984). As a consequence, those who belong to a socially stigmatized group that is not immediately apparent should be less worried about others having negative expectations of them (Barreto, Ellemers, & Banal, 2006) and, therefore, should also be less vulnerable to the effects of these negative expectations on their performance (Quinn, Kahng, & Crocker, 2004).…”

A Review of the Stereotype Threat Literature and Its Application in a Neurological Population

“…In general, there are a number of negative perceptions and stereotypes attached to psychiatric populations, including the notion that such individuals have cognitive deficits (e.g., Farina et al 1996;Fracchia et al 1976;Link et al 1997). An early study by Farina et al (1971) demonstrated that individuals with mental illness performed worse on a cognitive task when they believed others knew of their mental illness (compared to individuals with mental illness who did not disclose their psychiatric background). Although Farina et al (1971) did not use the term "stereotype threat" to explain these findings, he did argue that individuals with "mental illness" fear rejection from others, leading to self-handicapping behavior.…”

“…An early study by Farina et al (1971) demonstrated that individuals with mental illness performed worse on a cognitive task when they believed others knew of their mental illness (compared to individuals with mental illness who did not disclose their psychiatric background). Although Farina et al (1971) did not use the term "stereotype threat" to explain these findings, he did argue that individuals with "mental illness" fear rejection from others, leading to self-handicapping behavior. Quinn et al (2004) expanded these findings and found that individuals with mental illness (e.g., depression) performed worse on a reasoning test when they revealed their mental illness prior to taking the test than did individuals who did not reveal their mental illness.…”

'People don't understand': An investigation of stigma in schizophrenia using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)

“…'It's not so easy to, to explain to people' (Joan, 168), 'I'm at a stage where I would like to tell anybody OK, but [break] it's not understood by people' (David, 515). Farina et al (1971) demonstrated that consumers who believed others knew about their psychiatric history performed tasks less adequately, and felt less appreciated in their efforts. A negative cycle was perpetuated as neutral observers then viewed the individual as more tense and poorly adjusted.…”