HiTOP Text Logo

The Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology

GET INVOLVED

Letter protesting Meta's revised policy on hateful conduct

To the Meta Community Standards Team,

The Hierarchical Taxonomy Of Psychopathology (HiTOP) framework is a scientific effort to improve the organization, description, and measurement of psychopathology. The research consortium consists of over 200 experts in the classification of mental illness, each of whom has made significant contributions to this field of research. 

Recent changes to Meta’s content moderation policy permit allegations of mental illness on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The undersigned members of the HiTOP consortium wish to emphasize that there is a large body of scientific research finding sexual orientation and gender identity are not forms of psychopathology, but normative and positive differences among individuals. There is no empirical basis for describing differences in sexual orientation or gender identity as indicators of mental illness, just as there is no basis for making claims of psychopathology based on other characteristics— such as race, religion, nationality, sex, age, or disability—that remain protected under Meta’s policy. The weight of evidence on this point was clear over half a century ago, and has only strengthened over time.

Signed,

Timothy Allen
Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh

Andrew Baillie
Professor
University of Sydney

Elizabeth (Eli) Bell
Doctoral Student

Cassandra Boness
Assistant Professor
University of New Mexico

Nicolas Camacho*
Doctoral Candidate
Duke University

Simone Cheli*
Adjunct Professor
St. John's University

Michael Chmielewski
Associate Professor

David Cicero
Professor

Lee Anna Clark
Professor Emeritus
University of Notre Dame

Chris Conway
Associate Professor
Fordham University

Samuel E Cooper
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Texas at Austin

Colin DeYoung
Professor
University of Minnesota

Carmen Díaz-Batanero
Professor
University of Huelva

Nicholas Eaton
Professor
Stony Brook University

Miri Forbes
Associate Professor
Macquarie University

Kelsie Forbush*
Professor
University of Kansas

Eiko Fried
Associate Professor
Leiden University

Natalie Goulter
Senior Lecturer
Flinders University

Ashley Greene
Assistant Clinical Professor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Michael Hallquist
Associate Professor
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Benjamin Hankin
Professor
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign

Larry Hawk
Professor
SUNY Buffalo

Darren Haywood
Postdoctoral Fellow

Peter Jacobsson
Doctoral Student
University of Gothenburg

Alexa Jimenez
Doctoral Student

Katherine Jonas
Assistant Professor
Stony Brook University

Antonia Kaczkurkin
Assistant Professor
Vanderbilt University

Alexander Kallen
Doctoral Candidate
Florida State University

Christopher Kleva
Doctoral Candidate
Virginia Commonwealth University

Robert Krueger

Benjamin Lahey
Professor Emeritus
University of Chicago

Hyungseo (Caroline) Lee
Doctoral Student

Holly Levin-Aspenson

Marco Leyton
Professor
McGill University

James Li*
Associate Professor
University of Wisconsin Madison

Donald Lynam
Distinguished Professor
Purdue University

Elizabeth Martin
Associate Professor
University of California Irvine

Riley McDanal
PhD Candidate
Stony Brook University

Giorgia Michelini
Assistant Professor
Queen Mary University of London

Daniel Moriarity
Assistant Professor
University of Pennsylvania

Stephanie Mullins-Sweatt

Kristin Naragon-Gainey
Associate Professor
University of Western Australia

William Narrow
Associate Professor

Thomas Olino
Professor
Temple University

Emily Perkins
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Pennsylvania

Whitney Ringwald
Assistant Professor
University of Minnesota

Michael Roche

Craig Rodriguez-Seijas
Assistant Professor
University of Michigan

Anthony C Ruocco
Professor
University of Toronto

Brooke Sasia*
PhD Candidate
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Shannon Sauer-Zavala
Associate Professor
University of Kentucky

Alison Schreiber
Assistant Professor
University of Kentucky

Len Simms
Professor
SUNY Buffalo

Matthew Sunderland
Associate Professor
University of Sydney

Jeggan Tiego
Research Fellow
Monash University

Amanda Uliaszek
Associate Professor
University of Toronto

Frances Wang
Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh

Ashley Watts
Assistant Professor
Vanderbilt University

David Watson
Professor Emeritus
University of Notre Dame

Mark Waugh
Psychologist
Knoxville, Tennessee

Trevor Williams
Assistant Professor
Kent State University

Aidan Wright
Professor
University of Michigan

* Reflects my views as a private citizen, not those of my institution

Get Involved in the HiTOP Society

New members are always welcome

APPLY NOW