How we see ourselves and each other: stereotyped perceptions of occupational therapists and physical therapists

Abstract

Individuals judge themselves and each other in regards to positive and negative attributes to formulate stereotyped perceptions. Stereotypes assist one in dealing with an overwhelming amount of information. This study attempted to determine current stereotyped perceptions two levels of experienced occupational and physical therapists held of themselves and each other. Two sets of the Health Team Stereotype Scale were distributed to 200 therapists to determine a self-rating of the respective professions and a rating for the opposite profession. Data were collected and analyzed using the Mann Whitney U. It was found that occupational therapists and physical therapists rated themselves equally between experience groups. Physical therapists, as a group, rated occupational therapists higher than the occupational therapists rated themselves. Occupational therapists rated the profession of physical therapy less positively than the physical therapists rated themselves.