Stereotyping among Providers and Consumers of Public Mental Health Services

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Abstract
The authors examine stigmatization and mental illness, focusing on the role of perceived group variability in stereotype use. Consumers’ and providers’ in-group and out-group stereotypes were assessed. Although providers had extensive experience, they judged consumers more stereotypically and just as negatively as did the consumers themselves. Consumers’ education and involvement in services were weakly predictive of more stereotypic, less variable, and more negative views of providers, whereas providers’ education and involvement in services predicted more stereotypic but also more variable views of both groups. Perceived group stereotypicality predicted more stereotypic judgments of individuals, whereas perceived variability predicted less confidence in judgments. Because providers perceived greater variability, they were less confident in applying the stereotype to individuals.We suggest that increasing perceptions of the variability among consumers may lead to more sensitive use of diagnostic criteria, more individualized treatment, and a decrease in the negative effects of stigmatization.