According to the IBM-HS, beliefs about others’ expectations are beliefs about the degree to which a referent (i.e., an important individual or group in one’s life) would approve or disapprove of one seeking help (e.g., “I would expect that my friends would think I should / should not seek help”).
These beliefs primarily influence people’s help-seeking perceived norm.
People may perceive that some referents would encourage them to seek help whereas other referents would disapprove of such a decision (Lindsey et al., 2006). These beliefs may or may not accurately reflect what these referents would actually expect in real life.
It is also possible for a person to think that a given referent (e.g., classmate) would want the person to seek help, yet also perceive that referent would not seek help themselves if experiencing a mental health concern (Wright et al., 2023).
The IBM-HS encourages users to remain attuned to the distinction between (a) beliefs about others’ expectations and (b) outcome and experiential beliefs, both of which can address the interpersonal significance of seeking help. For example, the outcome belief of “my seeking help would help me improve my relationship with my partner” could be held at the same time as the belief about others’ expectations that “my partner would disapprove of my seeking help.” These two beliefs are both about anticipated social impacts, but they are from two different help-seeking belief types that exert influence on intention through two different help-seeking mechanisms (attitude and perceived norm).
A description of available prospective mental health help-seeking beliefs about others’ expectations measures can be found on the Beliefs about Others’ Expectations Measures page.
(Please note: select page content is excerpted from Hammer et al., 2024.)