Public prestige and preferred gender of mental health providers

One hundred ambulatory adults of each gender were interviewed on a downtown street in Washington, D.C. Each ranked for prestige an alphabetical listing of 10 mental health disciplines and further indicated whether they would prefer to consult for an emotional problem a "male," "female," or "either" professional in each of the fields. The top three prestigious professions were found to be Psychiatrist, Psychoanalyst, and Psychologist, respectively, while the bottom choices were Paraprofessional Worker, Psychiatric Social Worker, and Social Worker. Discussion considered several factors possibly contributory to these results, and suggestions for further research were offered.