Background: Previous research suggests that mental health literacy regarding the personality disorders is low, with few disorders being recognised.

Aims: The current study aimed to examine the effect of a background in psychology as a predictor of knowledge of the personality disorders.

Methods: An opportunistic sample of 165 participants (mean age = 30.12 years, standard deviation (SD) = 15.27 years) took part in the study. Participants were instructed to read 10 personality disorder vignettes and other ‘filler’ items and rate each person in terms of how happy, successful at work and good at personal relationships they are, as well as whether they have a psychological problem.

Results: Results showed, as predicted, that those with a background in psychology were more accurate at labelling disorders. In addition, laypeople’s mental health literacy was good for identifying the presence of personality disorders, but was considerably poorer when naming them.

Conclusion: Recognising that people may have a disorder and having a ‘correct’ or recognised label are not the same thing.