Menatti, A., Smyth, F. L., Teachman, B. A., & Nosek, B. A. (2013). Reducing stigma toward individuals with mental illnesses: A brief, online manipulation. *Stigma Research and Action*.
**Abstract**
**Purpose**: Our goal was to determine the effectiveness of a brief online intervention designed to reduce stigmarelevant
attitudes toward mentally ill individuals. We examined whether the experience of completing a Brief
Implicit Association Test (BIAT) measuring attitudes toward people with mental illnesses alters explicit stigma in
two studies.
**Methods**: In Study 1, participants completed the BIAT and received feedback about their individual level of implicit
bias. Study 2 added a condition in which the BIAT was administered without feedback on performance.
**Results**: Study 1 showed that the intervention was effective in reducing stigma-relevant attitudes toward mentally
ill individuals. Study 2 showed that receiving feedback about one’s own implicit bias was not necessary for the
intervention to reduce stigma.
**Conclusion**: These studies show that the BIAT intervention may be effective at reducing explicit stigmatizing
attitudes toward individuals with mental illnesses, at least in the short-term.
Implications: This brief, accessible, and cost-effective stigma reduction strategy may be of use to community organizations
whose mission is to address issues surrounding stigmatization in real-world settings.