### abstract ###
knowing what event precipitated a client's abnormal behaviors makes the client appear more normal than if the event is not known  CITATION
does such knowledge also influence judgments of the need for psychological treatment  and if so  does it matter whether the precipitating event was inside or outside the client's control
we presented undergraduates with cases of hypothetical clients exhibiting abnormal behaviors and manipulated whether they were also told of a precipitating event explaining those behaviors
knowing the precipitant significantly reduced perceptions of clients' need for treatment  but only when the precipitating event was outside the client's control
these findings call into question the notion that it need always be beneficial for an outside reasoner to uncover the root cause of a client's psychological problems  particularly when the root cause is still unknown to the client
the rationality of the effect and additional implications for decision-making are discussed
### introduction ###
how do lay people make judgments about another person's need for psychological treatment
given that recent estimates suggest that approximately one out of every four americans in any given year have a diagnosable mental disorder  CITATION   it is likely that a great many lay individuals have the opportunity to observe and assess others' behavioral pathology in their daily lives and to influence others' treatment-seeking decisions
evidence suggests that the treatment-seeking strategies of people suffering from disorders are strongly influenced by lay social networks  CITATION
indeed  a prospective client is most likely to first decide  with input from peers  whether treatment might be needed  and to only then make an appointment to talk with a mental health clinician
it may therefore be of critical importance to examine factors influencing lay judgments of others' need for treatment
in particular  we are interested in whether understanding a person's behaviors influences judgments of that person's need for treatment
for instance  suppose that  joe   a well-adjusted first-year college student  has a roommate   ted   who has been exhibiting some strange behaviors
joe notices that ted has frequent memory lapses
these lapses lead ted to repeat his thoughts to himself  which in turn causes difficulty interacting with others
worried by ted's odd behaviors  joe is on the verge of suggesting that ted seek out professional psychological treatment
suppose  though  that joe then hears through the grapevine that ted's problems all started when his girlfriend cheated on him
ted was so upset by this event that he started having frequent memory lapses for his usual daily events which  in turn  launched his other problems
will knowing the initial precipitant of ted's problems now lead joe to perceive ted as being more or less in need of psychological treatment
or  will joe treat this new information as irrelevant to his judgment of ted's need for treatment
