Intergroup Contact and Prejudice Against People With Schizophrenia

ABSTRACT

There is a growing awareness that responses to mental health disorders differ according to the label. Still, research on contact and prejudice against people with mental health disorders has generally focused on the broader label, “mental illness,” as though various disorders were interchangeable. The present research specifically investigated the relationship between intergroup contact and avoidance of people with schizophrenia—a particularly stigmatized and challenging group—as well as mediators of that relationship. In Study 1, 78 students completed measures of their prior contact with and prejudice against people with schizophrenia. Prior contact predicted less desired avoidance of people with schizophrenia, and this relationship was mediated by more favorable attitudes. Study 2 (N = 122) replicated the results of Study 1, and also found that less fear and less intergroup anxiety mediated the relationship between contact and avoidance. This suggests that contact may effectively reduce prejudice, even against this highly stigmatized group.

Keywords:

• contact hypothesis
• mental illness
• prejudice
• schizophrenia

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Keon West

Keon West is a Lecturer in the Psychology Department of Goldsmiths, University of London.

Miles Hewstone

Miles Hewstone is a Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Oxford.

Simon Lolliot

Simon Lolliot is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Psychology Department at the University of Oxford.