Perceptions of exploitability and mental illness: A response to commentary.

Abstract

Two recent publications examined the perceived exploitability of people with mental illness Boysen & Isaacs, 2022). Across 9 individual studies, multiple experimental designs, and almost 2,500 participants, clear evidence emerged to suggest that people perceive mental illness as a generalized cue of exploitability. In their commentary on the 2 publications, Kavanagh and Kahl (2022) dismiss the validity of this finding. The purpose of this response is to examine the validity of their concerns. Overall, the commentators identify no fatal flaws in the studies and present no data or evidence to contradict the repeated finding that mental illness is associated with perceptions of exploitability. Public Significance StatementStudies have shown that people see individuals with mental illness as easy to exploit. Commentators have objected to the research methods in those studies. However, the objections are flawed, and the commentators provide no research evidence to contradict the original findings.