Aspirations for a cooperative community and support for mental health advocacy: a shared orientation through opinion‐based group membership

This research examines the role of aspirations for cooperative relations between people with mental disorders and other community members in influencing commitment to stigma‐reducing practices and promoting positive social change. Two studies demonstrated that a measure of aspirations for a cooperative community is distinct from social and community identification measures and strongly predicts positive beliefs and behavioral intentions. Findings support the proposal that these aspirations reflect a shared ideology for members of an opinion‐based group that support mental health advocacy. The findings provide evidence that the aspirations construct adds to knowledge about collective identities and offers a useful tool for designing stigma reduction and social‐change strategies for the benefit of people with mental disorders.