<p>When experiencing depressive symptoms, many people delay or avoid seeking professional help. We investigate whether misperceptions of other’s willingness to seek help can be a potential barrier for help-seeking by examining pluralistic ignorance (i.e., when members of a group mistakenly believe that others’ cognitions or behaviors differ systematically from their own) in men and women’s perceptions of others’ help-seeking willingness. Experiment 1 (<i>N</i> = 2042) demonstrated that both men and women underestimate men’s willingness to seek formal help but showed no evidence of pluralistic ignorance in women’s perceptions of “most women’s” help-seeking. For both men and women, self-rated willingness to seek help was strongly associated with the perception that other men/women would seek help. Based on these results, we proposed that a lower willingness to disclose help-seeking for depressive symptoms among men could be a source of misperceptions of men’s help-seeking willingness. Experiment 2 (<i>N</i> = 1528) showed that men were less willing than women to disclose help-seeking for depression to friends and colleagues, which could contribute to misperceptions of men’s help-seeking willingness. We argue that pluralistic ignorance can be a barrier for men’s mental health help-seeking and discuss implications for interventions to increase the number of men who seek help when experiencing depressive symptoms.</p>

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Men’s Help-Seeking Willingness and Disclosure of Depression: Experimental Evidence for the Role of Pluralistic Ignorance

  • Hege H. Bye,
  • Frida L. Måseidvåg,
  • Samantha M. Harris

摘要

When experiencing depressive symptoms, many people delay or avoid seeking professional help. We investigate whether misperceptions of other’s willingness to seek help can be a potential barrier for help-seeking by examining pluralistic ignorance (i.e., when members of a group mistakenly believe that others’ cognitions or behaviors differ systematically from their own) in men and women’s perceptions of others’ help-seeking willingness. Experiment 1 (N = 2042) demonstrated that both men and women underestimate men’s willingness to seek formal help but showed no evidence of pluralistic ignorance in women’s perceptions of “most women’s” help-seeking. For both men and women, self-rated willingness to seek help was strongly associated with the perception that other men/women would seek help. Based on these results, we proposed that a lower willingness to disclose help-seeking for depressive symptoms among men could be a source of misperceptions of men’s help-seeking willingness. Experiment 2 (N = 1528) showed that men were less willing than women to disclose help-seeking for depression to friends and colleagues, which could contribute to misperceptions of men’s help-seeking willingness. We argue that pluralistic ignorance can be a barrier for men’s mental health help-seeking and discuss implications for interventions to increase the number of men who seek help when experiencing depressive symptoms.