Meaning matters: Measuring the mental illness identity

Drawing on stigma and identity research, we propose and examine quantitative measures of mental illness as a stigmatized identity. Using a web-based panel survey of 1453 adults, we ask individuals who identified as having mental health concerns (n = 1067) to rate adjective-pairs that represent stereotypes associated with mental illness derived from stigma research. Two dimensions of the mental illness identity emerged in our data: Dangerousness and Weakness. Using these dimensions, we examined the relationship between the mental illness identity and well-being (self-worth, self-efficacy, and psychological distress). Both identity dimensions were related to lower levels of self-efficacy and higher levels of distress, however, only perceptions of weakness were associated with lower self-worth. Our findings indicate that specifying the meanings associated with the mental illness identity has the potential to broaden the scope of identity theory and enhance our understanding of the relationship between stigma and well-being.