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Public Attitudes Towards Mental Illness- the Effects of Behaviour, Roles and Psychiatric Labels

Author

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  • Krystyna Nieradzik

    (Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham)

  • Raymond Cochrane

    (Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham)

Abstract

A questionnaire to assess various elements of public attitudes towards the mentally ill was given to 108 subjects. 5 hypotheses were tested. 1. Public attitudes towards mental illness are more rejecting than accepting. 2. Social rejection increases with increasing severity of disturbance in behaviour. 3. Public attitudes towards the mentally ill are related to social class as measured by occupational status and to age of the respondent. 4. Rejection of the mentally ill is decreased by the availability of a non-deviant alternative label. 5. Attitudes of the general population towards the mentally ill will be influenced by the label of mental illness as well as by behaviour indicative of mental illness. All the hypotheses were confirmed with one exception — negative public attitudes were not found to be related to social class as measured by occupational status. Public attitudes towards the mentally ill are more diverse than previous research would imply. Possible future research directions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Krystyna Nieradzik & Raymond Cochrane, 1985. "Public Attitudes Towards Mental Illness- the Effects of Behaviour, Roles and Psychiatric Labels," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 31(1), pages 23-33, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:31:y:1985:i:1:p:23-33
    DOI: 10.1177/002076408503100103
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    Cited by:

    1. Natalia Shulman & Bryan Adams, 2002. "A Comparison of Russian and British Attitudes towards Mental Health Problems in the Community," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 48(4), pages 266-278, December.
    2. Stephanie Cormack & Adrian Furnham, 1998. "Psychiatric Labelling, Sex Role Stereotypes and Beliefs About the Mentally Ill," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 44(4), pages 235-247, December.
    3. Haluk Arkar & DoÄŸan Eker, 1994. "Effect of Psychiatric Labels On Attitudes Toward Mental Illness in a Turkish Sample," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 40(3), pages 205-213, September.

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