Intergroup similarities in judgements of psychiatric symptom severity

Researchers have stated that racial/ethnic groups, even if residing in the same locale, differ substantially in their judgments of the severity of psychiatric symptoms. Severity was defined as the degree to which a symptom would lead to the belief that the person manifesting the symptom had some form of mental disturbance or psychological problem needing treatment. Research participants residing in Hawaii's, varying in sex, age, educational level, and ethnicity, rated the severity of 49 psychiatric symptoms. All groups were in close agreement with one another in their severity ratings, suggesting that group differences in beliefs may be far less than had been claimed.