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Familiarity with and social distance from people with mental illness: Testing the mediating effects of prejudiced attitudes
Author(s) -
Anagnostopoulos Fotios,
Hantzi Alexandra
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of community and applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.042
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1099-1298
pISSN - 1052-9284
DOI - 10.1002/casp.1082
Subject(s) - mental illness , psychology , social distance , social psychology , mental health , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , covid-19 , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The purpose of this study was to examine prejudiced attitudes as a factor associated with social distance from people with mental illness. A total of 289 university students from Greece completed written measures assessing social distance from, prejudiced attitudes about, and familiarity with mental illness. A structural equation model with manifest variables was tested. Participants who reported to be more familiar with mental illness held stronger social care and weaker prejudiced beliefs, and consequently expressed a less strong desire for social distance. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are outlined. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.