Abnormal psychology by another name

Stigma adds a significant burden for persons with mental illness, and extant research supports multifaceted efforts to reduce that stigma. Stigma reduction is the goal of a recent push to change the name of the college course, Abnormal Psychology, but that effort is currently founded on rational logic rather than empirical evidence. Protecting vulnerable populations from preventable harm is a good impulse, and psychologists are uniquely prepared to sift through promising ideas with skepticism, humility, and rigorous methods. This brief communication provides experimental data to initiate an evidence-based approach to building actionable understanding of the relationship between course titles and stigma.