REDUCING STIGMA 1 Running Head: REDUCING STIGMA Reducing Stigma Toward Individuals with Mental Illnesses: A Brief, Online Intervention

Purpose: Our goal was to determine the effectiveness of a brief online intervention designed to reduce stigma-relevant 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.