Perception of a Non-Ill Participant in a Mental Health Discussion

Abstract

Describing a mental patient's claim to sanity as symptomatic may increase the probability that others will assimilate non-ill behavior into a pathological framework. In two experiments subjects saw a simulated session of group therapy on videotape. Each videotape contained a therapist, four persons role-playing specific disorders, and one person acting normally. After receiving different instructions, all subjects were asked to categorize the five patients. In Exp. 1 no consistent conclusions were possible because only 2 of 59 subjects said the normal person was not ill. Exp. 2 avoided this “floor effect” by the videotaped therapist's agreeing with the normal person's claim of not being ill. The subjects precautioned against believing claims of sanity were most likely to categorize the person exhibiting non-ill behavior. A second group of subjects were not precautioned against believing sanity claims. A third group of subjects, informed of one patient's non-illness, were most likely to differentiate the normal person from those portraying pathological behavior.