Date of Award

Spring 5-22-2021

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Advisor(s)

Leonard S. Newman

Keywords

attitudes, college students, mental health services, pluralistic ignorance

Subject Categories

Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

Students underutilize mental health services on college campuses in the United States. More research is needed to fully understand barriers to service use among this at-risk population and interventions should be created to address these barriers. Current research and interventions do not address group-level social comparison processes that elevate lack of service use. Particularly, pluralistic ignorance has not been assessed—that is, the systematic misperception of others’ cognitions and behaviors within a social group. It is possible that pluralistic ignorance contributes to the underutilization of services on college campuses. I began this assessment in three studies. In Study 1 (N = 198) college students misperceived other students as being less willing to use mental health services and as harboring more service use stigma compared to the average self-reported attitudes of the sample. In Study 2 (NT1 = 260, NT2 = 145) these group-level misperceptions were replicated. Furthermore, individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance (i.e., personal attitudes, perceptions of others’ attitudes, and their interaction) predicted later pluralistic ignorance-related behavioral and attitudinal implications (e.g., changes in alcohol use and perceptions of academic success). In Study 3 (N = 378) I experimentally assessed the chief components of a pluralistic ignorance intervention. I found evidence for the effectiveness of an intervention that incorporates both a norm misperception correction and a lesson about pluralistic ignorance in addressing misperceptions and increasing service use interest. In this research I utilize cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental methods to expose and assess pluralistic ignorance in a new context, I highlight the usefulness of using individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance to predict pluralistic ignorance-related implications, and I begin the necessary process of developing a pluralistic ignorance intervention.

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Open Access

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