[4] Rosenhan believed that there are seven main features of psychological abnormality: suffering; maladaptiveness; vividness and unconventionality; unpredictability and loss of control; irrationality and incomprehensibility; observer discomfort; and violation of moral and ideal standards.
In this study report, Rosenhan uses "hard labeling"[clarification needed] to argue that mental illnesses are manifested solely as a result of societal influence.
a research and teaching hospital challenged Rosenhan to perform a similar experiment involving its own diagnosis and admission procedures, where psychiatric staff were warned that at least one pseudo-patient might be sent to their institution.
[citation needed] The Rosenhan experiment can be described as addressing the relationship between psychiatric and medical diagnoses and labeling theory,[according to whom?]
theorising that deviance is a product of external judgements that can modify an individual's self-identity and change how others respond to the labeled person.
][citation needed] By this description, by negatively labeling those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms, the behavior of individuals may be adjusted to coincide with the terms used to describe them.