The stigma of mental illness in the labor market

Mental illness labels are accompanied by devaluation and discrimination. We extend research on reactions to mental illness by utilizing a field experiment (N = 635) to test effects of mental illness labels on labor market discrimination. This study involved sending fictitious applications to job listings, some applications indicating a history of mental illness and some indicating a history of physical injury. In line with research indicating that mental illness leads to stigma, we predicted fewer callbacks to candidates with mental illness. We also predicted relatively fewer callbacks for applicants with mental illness when the jobs involved a greater likelihood for interpersonal contact with the employer. Results showed significant discrimination against applicants with mental illness, but did not indicate an effect of potential proximity to the employer. This contributes a valuable finding in a natural setting to research on labor market discrimination towards people with mental illness. •Mental illness stigma is documented, but not recently tested in a natural setting.•We used an experiment to test discrimination against persons with mental illness.•We applied to jobs as an applicant with a history of injury or mental illness.•Our results demonstrate that mental illness stigma persists in the labor market.•Social distance between hirers and our applicant did not affect callback rates.