Value-Related Effects on Psychiatric Judgment

This study was done to clarify the role of political bias in forming psychiatric impressions. One hundred two psychiatrists randomly selected from the national register rendered six clinical decisions on the basis of a prepared case history in which the patient's sex and race were systematically varied, and also completed a moral traditionalism scale. The findings highlight the problem of covert psychiatrist bias, but fail to substantiate the contention that such bias inevitably disfavors the relatively disenfranchised.