Stigma of psychological therapy: Stereotypes, interpersonal reactions, and the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Investigated stereotypes of counseling center clients and examined how these preconceptions influence social interaction. 136 undergraduates, told they were participating in a study of the acquaintance process in social interactions, were randomly assigned to be perceivers or targets. Ss engaged in a brief getting-acquainted conversation. Targets were randomly assigned to conditions in which perceivers were told that their conversational partner, the target, had been recruited either from among students seeking psychological therapy (clients) or from students in introductory psychology courses (nonclients). As was predicted, perceivers rated clients less favorably than they did nonclients before they interacted. Futhermore, consistent with previous research on the self-fulfilling prophecy, judges' ratings of the interactions revealed that perceivers behaved more negatively toward clients than toward nonclients, and clients came to behave in a less socially desirable manner than did nonclients. It is suggested that fear of rejection that makes people reluctant to seek psychological therapy appears to be justified. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)