title: Religion, ethnicity, and attitudes toward psychotherapy.
abstract: Many presume that White culture supports psychotherapy utilization. However, cultural analyses suggest that many aspects of White culture are antithetical to the values and practices underlying psychotherapy, which appear more congruent with Ashkenazic Jewish attitudes and values. The current research empirically tested this possibility by comparing older Jewish White people, non-Jewish Whites, and Black participants on attitudes relevant to psychotherapy. Results indicated that Jews had greater confidence in a therapist's ability to help, were more tolerant of stigma, and more open to sharing their feelings and concerns than participants in the other groups. Furthermore, initial differences between Whites and African Americans were lessened when Jewish identity was included in the analysis. Results suggest that Jewish culture is relatively accepting of psychotherapy, and that previous reports of different rates of mental health seeking attitudes and utilization by Whites and Blacks may be due, in part, to the inclusion of Jewish individuals in these samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. erm142@gmail.com
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Midlarsky
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pirutinsky
authors.forename: Florette
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007585:Jews / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health / Q000208:ethnology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*