The term “abnormal psychology” cues mental illness stigma: A study in China

Abstract

The usage of the term “abnormal psychology” has been criticized for being pejorative, which may encourage mental illness stigma and impede seeking help. Although researchers generally endorse the advocacy of dignity-respecting terminology, “abnormal psychology” is still widely used due to the trade-off between the cost of making changes and the potential harm of keeping it. However, the risk of keeping the term has rarely been tested, leaving room for the mind of wishing a fluke that this inaccurate term may lead to few real-world consequences; this belief is challenged by this article. Five experiments were conducted in China ( N = 1,283) to test the hypothesis that the term “abnormal psychology” encourages mental illness stigma through the mediation of moral attribution, reducing help-seeking intentions. Results revealed that, despite the identical detailed descriptions of mental illnesses, labeling mental illnesses as “abnormal psychology” (versus “psychopathology”; i.e., 变态心理学 versus 心理病理学) leads to a stronger emphasis on moral causes when explaining etiology and thus to more stigmatizing attitudes (Studies 1A, 1B, and 2). For external validity, the participants freely expressed their impressions and attributions (Study 3). Those cued by “abnormal psychology” were likelier to infer that people experiencing mental illness had twisted, inhibited, narrow-minded, dark, violent, antisocial, and split traits, as well as problematic values/morality. In an imaginary scenario (Study 4), “abnormal psychology” reduced the intention of seeking professional help through the serial mediation of moral attribution and self-stigma. A subtle difference in language can considerably affect people's attitudes and intentions, which suggests reconsideration of the terminology.