IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v46y2000i1p4-20.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Cross-Cultural Comparison of British and Japanese Lay Theories of Schizophrenia

Author

Listed:
  • Adrian Furnham
  • Masako Murao

Abstract

Nearly 300 matched British and Japanese participants completed an equivalent three-part questionnaire in their native language. The questionnaire covered general beliefs or conceptions about schizophrenia, causal explanations for the aetiology of schizophrenia, as well as the role of hospitals in particular, and society in general, in helping schizophrenics recover from their illness. It was predicted that the Japanese, who have more taboos about mental illness than the British, would see schizophrenics as more difficult, dangerous and "morally insane". Factor analysis of each of the three parts of the questionnaire yielded a clearly interpretable structure. The British were more concerned with the rights of schizo phrenics and believed them to be less dangerous and abnormal than did the Japanese. The Japanese favoured sociological (stress) explanations more than the British for the cause of schizophrenia. Whereas the Japanese saw micro- and macro-society change as the best way to help schizophrenics, the British stressed individual care and consideration as more relevant.

Suggested Citation

  • Adrian Furnham & Masako Murao, 2000. "A Cross-Cultural Comparison of British and Japanese Lay Theories of Schizophrenia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 46(1), pages 4-20, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:46:y:2000:i:1:p:4-20
    DOI: 10.1177/002076400004600103
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002076400004600103
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/002076400004600103?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kee-Lee Chou & Ki-Yan Mak & Po-Kin Chung & David Chan & Kimmy Ho, 1996. "Attitudes Towards Mental Patients in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 42(3), pages 213-219, September.
    2. Markku Ojanen, 1992. "Attitudes Towards Mental Patients," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 38(2), pages 120-130, June.
    3. Sawsan Reda, 1996. "Public Perception of Discharged Psychiatric Patients: a Community Survey," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 42(3), pages 220-229, September.
    4. Adrian Furnham & Joanna Rees, 1988. "Lay Theories of Schizophrenia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 34(3), pages 212-220, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Adrian Furnham, 2009. "Psychiatric and Psychotherapeutic Literacy: Attitudes To, and Knowledge of, Psychotherapy," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 55(6), pages 525-537, November.
    2. Kee-Lee Chou & Ki-yan Mak, 1998. "Attitudes To Mental Patients Among Hong Kong Chinese: a Trend Study Over Two Years," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 44(3), pages 215-224, September.
    3. Samir Al-Adawi & Atsu S.S. Dorvlo & Suad S. Al-Ismaily & Dalal A. Al-Ghafry & Balquis Z. Al-Noobi & Ahmed Al-Salmi & David T. Burke & Mrugeshkumar K. Shah & Harith Ghassany & Suma P. Chand, 2002. "Perception of and Attitude towards Mental Illness in Oman," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 48(4), pages 305-317, December.
    4. Marcus Y.L. Chiu & Kenneth K.L. Chan, 2007. "Community Attitudes Towards Discriminatory Practice Against People with Severe Mental Illness in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 53(2), pages 159-174, March.
    5. Saheed Wahass & Gerry Kent, 1997. "A Comparison of Public Attitudes in Britain and Saudi Arabia Towards Auditory Hallucinations," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 43(3), pages 175-183, September.
    6. Adrian Furnham & Anuli Igboaka, 2007. "Young People's Recognition and Understanding of Schizophrenia: a Cross-Cultural Study of Young People From Britain and Nigeria," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 53(5), pages 430-446, September.
    7. Adrian Furnham & William Ritchie & Alixe Lay, 2016. "Beliefs about the causes and cures of depression," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(5), pages 415-424, August.
    8. Adrian Furnham & Elizabeth Anthony, 2010. "Lay Theories of Bipolar Disorder: the Causes, Manifestations and Cures for Perceived Bipolar Disorder," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 56(3), pages 255-269, May.
    9. Ming-De Chen & Yen-Ching Chang, 2016. "Personnel attitudes toward people with mental illness at a psychiatric hospital in Taiwan," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 62(4), pages 361-368, June.
    10. Adrian Furnham & Helen Cheng, 2000. "Lay Theories of Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 227-246, June.
    11. Viren Swami & Adrian Furnham & Kumaraswami Kannan & Dhachayani Sinniah, 2008. "Beliefs About Schizophrenia and Its Treatment in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 54(2), pages 164-179, March.
    12. Robert Sévigny & Yang Wenying & Zhang Peiyan & Jacques D. Marleau & Yang Zhouyun & Su Lin & Li GuowangUOWAN & Xu Dong & Wang Yanling & Wang Haijun, 1999. "Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill in a Sample of Professionals Working in a Psychiatric Hospital in Beijing (China)," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 45(1), pages 41-55, March.
    13. Matthias C. Angermeyer & Herbert Matschinger, 2005. "The Stigma of Mental Illness in Germany: A Trend Analysis," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 51(3), pages 276-284, September.
    14. Joshua A Williams & Ni Liu & Khalid Afzal & Brian Cooper & Renslow Sherer & Ivy Morgan & Hongmei Dong, 2014. "Positive attitudes towards psychiatry among Chinese medical students," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 60(1), pages 21-29, February.
    15. Adrian Furnham & Claire Buck, 2003. "A Comparison of Lay-Beliefs about Autism and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 49(4), pages 287-307, December.
    16. Petrus Ng & Kai-Fong Chan, 2000. "Sex Differences in Opinion Towards Mental Illness of Secondary School Students in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 46(2), pages 79-88, June.
    17. Nazan Aydin & Arzu Yigit & Tacettin Inandi & Ismet Kirpinar, 2003. "Attitudes of Hospital Staff Toward Mentally Ill Patients in a Teaching Hospital, Turkey," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 49(1), pages 17-26, March.
    18. K.F. Chung & Eric Y.H. Chen & Catherine S.M. Liu, 2001. "University Students' Attitudes Towards Mental Patients and Psychiatric Treatment," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 47(2), pages 63-72, June.
    19. Kee-Lee Chou & Ki-Yan Mak & Po-Kin Chung & David Chan & Kimmy Ho, 1996. "Attitudes Towards Mental Patients in Hong Kong," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 42(3), pages 213-219, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:46:y:2000:i:1:p:4-20. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.