Students underutilize mental health services on college campuses in the United States. More research is needed to fully understand barriers to service use among this at-risk population and interventions should be created to address these barriers. Current research and interventions do not address group-level social comparison processes that elevate lack of service use. Particularly, pluralistic ignorance has not been assessed—that is, the systematic misperception of others’ cognitions and behaviors within a social group. It is possible that pluralistic ignorance contributes to the underutilization of services on college campuses. I began this assessment in three studies. In Study 1 (N = 198) college students misperceived other students as being less willing to use mental health services and as harboring more service use stigma compared to the average self-reported attitudes of the sample. In Study 2 (NT1 = 260, NT2 = 145) these group-level misperceptions were replicated. Furthermore, individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance (i.e., personal attitudes, perceptions of others’ attitudes, and their interaction) predicted later pluralistic ignorance-related behavioral and attitudinal implications (e.g., changes in alcohol use and perceptions of academic success). In Study 3 (N = 378) I experimentally assessed the chief components of a pluralistic ignorance intervention. I found evidence for the effectiveness of an intervention that incorporates both a norm misperception correction and a lesson about pluralistic ignorance in addressing misperceptions and increasing service use interest. In this research I utilize cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental methods to expose and assess pluralistic ignorance in a new context, I highlight the usefulness of using individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance to predict pluralistic ignorance-related implications, and I begin the necessary process of developing a pluralistic ignorance intervention.
","abstract_html":"<p>Students underutilize mental health services on college campuses in the United States. More research is needed to fully understand barriers to service use among this at-risk population and interventions should be created to address these barriers. Current research and interventions do not address group-level social comparison processes that elevate lack of service use. Particularly, pluralistic ignorance has not been assessed—that is, the systematic misperception of others’ cognitions and behaviors within a social group. It is possible that pluralistic ignorance contributes to the underutilization of services on college campuses. I began this assessment in three studies. In Study 1 (N = 198) college students misperceived other students as being less willing to use mental health services and as harboring more service use stigma compared to the average self-reported attitudes of the sample. In Study 2 (NT1 = 260, NT2 = 145) these group-level misperceptions were replicated. Furthermore, individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance (i.e., personal attitudes, perceptions of others’ attitudes, and their interaction) predicted later pluralistic ignorance-related behavioral and attitudinal implications (e.g., changes in alcohol use and perceptions of academic success). In Study 3 (N = 378) I experimentally assessed the chief components of a pluralistic ignorance intervention. I found evidence for the effectiveness of an intervention that incorporates both a norm misperception correction and a lesson about pluralistic ignorance in addressing misperceptions and increasing service use interest. In this research I utilize cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental methods to expose and assess pluralistic ignorance in a new context, I highlight the usefulness of using individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance to predict pluralistic ignorance-related implications, and I begin the necessary process of developing a pluralistic ignorance intervention. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sargent, Rikki Hope"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Leonard S. Newman"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-05-22T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2021-05-22T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:56:04Z","subjects":["attitudes","college students","mental health services","pluralistic ignorance","Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1329","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Leonard S. Newman"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sargent, Rikki Hope"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["attitudes","college students","mental health services","pluralistic ignorance","Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1329"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Students underutilize mental health services on college campuses in the United States. More research is needed to fully understand barriers to service use among this at-risk population and interventions should be created to address these barriers. Current research and interventions do not address group-level social comparison processes that elevate lack of service use. Particularly, pluralistic ignorance has not been assessed—that is, the systematic misperception of others’ cognitions and behaviors within a social group. It is possible that pluralistic ignorance contributes to the underutilization of services on college campuses. I began this assessment in three studies. In Study 1 (N = 198) college students misperceived other students as being less willing to use mental health services and as harboring more service use stigma compared to the average self-reported attitudes of the sample. In Study 2 (NT1 = 260, NT2 = 145) these group-level misperceptions were replicated. Furthermore, individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance (i.e., personal attitudes, perceptions of others’ attitudes, and their interaction) predicted later pluralistic ignorance-related behavioral and attitudinal implications (e.g., changes in alcohol use and perceptions of academic success). In Study 3 (N = 378) I experimentally assessed the chief components of a pluralistic ignorance intervention. I found evidence for the effectiveness of an intervention that incorporates both a norm misperception correction and a lesson about pluralistic ignorance in addressing misperceptions and increasing service use interest. In this research I utilize cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental methods to expose and assess pluralistic ignorance in a new context, I highlight the usefulness of using individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance to predict pluralistic ignorance-related implications, and I begin the necessary process of developing a pluralistic ignorance intervention.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Pluralistic Ignorance Of Attitudes Toward Mental Health Services Among College Students"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Leonard S. Newman"],"dc:creator":["Sargent, Rikki Hope"],"dc:description.abstract":["Students underutilize mental health services on college campuses in the United States. More research is needed to fully understand barriers to service use among this at-risk population and interventions should be created to address these barriers. Current research and interventions do not address group-level social comparison processes that elevate lack of service use. Particularly, pluralistic ignorance has not been assessed—that is, the systematic misperception of others’ cognitions and behaviors within a social group. It is possible that pluralistic ignorance contributes to the underutilization of services on college campuses. I began this assessment in three studies. In Study 1 (N = 198) college students misperceived other students as being less willing to use mental health services and as harboring more service use stigma compared to the average self-reported attitudes of the sample. In Study 2 (NT1 = 260, NT2 = 145) these group-level misperceptions were replicated. Furthermore, individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance (i.e., personal attitudes, perceptions of others’ attitudes, and their interaction) predicted later pluralistic ignorance-related behavioral and attitudinal implications (e.g., changes in alcohol use and perceptions of academic success). In Study 3 (N = 378) I experimentally assessed the chief components of a pluralistic ignorance intervention. I found evidence for the effectiveness of an intervention that incorporates both a norm misperception correction and a lesson about pluralistic ignorance in addressing misperceptions and increasing service use interest. In this research I utilize cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental methods to expose and assess pluralistic ignorance in a new context, I highlight the usefulness of using individual-level indicators of pluralistic ignorance to predict pluralistic ignorance-related implications, and I begin the necessary process of developing a pluralistic ignorance intervention.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1329"],"dc:subject":["attitudes","college students","mental health services","pluralistic ignorance","Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["Pluralistic Ignorance Of Attitudes Toward Mental Health Services Among College Students"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:56:04Z"}