Beliefs About the Biological (vs. Nonbiological) Origins of Mental Illness and the Stigmatization of People with Mental Illness

Abstract

The present study focuses on the relationship between an individual's attributions of cause regarding mental illness (i.e., the degree by which psychopathology is perceived as biologically or nonbiologically caused) and resulting stigmatization (particularly social distancing, a form of social rejection). To date, much of the research concerning attributional beliefs and stigma use general terms such as “mental patient” and “psychiatric client,” thereby overlooking the variance apparent between individuals of varying pathology. When specific pathologies have been mentioned, nearly all the research has focused on the diagnoses of schizophrenia, depression, and alcoholism. In this study, one hundred eighteen Midwestern university students were surveyed regarding their attributional beliefs toward mental illness. Regression analysis found that attributional beliefs, both biological and nonbiological, failed to predict social distance. A repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant variance between conditions; this variance was then investigated with paired-samples t tests. Participants preferred more social distance for the vignettes portraying schizophrenia and alcohol dependence, the latter being the most stigmatized and socially rejected mental illness.

Keywords:

• Attributional beliefs
• Causal beliefs
• Mental illness stigma
• Social distance

Notes

**Coefficient is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Coefficient is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

**Mean difference is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*Mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).