Emotion mediates distrust of persons with mental illnesses

摘要

The current research examined how a label of mental illness affects evaluations of trust. Literature on the stigma of mental illness reveals that stigmatized groups are the subjects of out-group derogation. Considering that the construct of trust is associated with prosocial behavior, it follows that the social hardships stigmatized groups face develop from distrust. Four experiments examined the role of trust in stigma. In Experiment 1, participants judged targets labeled as having a mental illness as less trustworthy than targets described without a mental illness. Experiment 2 demonstrated that different mental illnesses were associated with varying levels of distrust. Experiment 3 determined that affect mediated the relationship between mental illness and trust. Experiment 4 confirmed the results using an expanded population sample, allowing for more confidence in the generalizability of the findings. These data demonstrate the importance of addressing distrust and its associated consequences.