Effect of type of cause on attitudes toward mental illness and relationships between the attitudes

The effects of four types of supposedly causative factors on judgements of mental illness, social distance, and prognosis were assessed among university students. Correlations between the components of attitudes were also examined. A vignette format was utilized. Analysis showed that the etiology of the case and the sex of the respondents had no significant influence except for sex in only one social distance item. However, there were statistically nonsignificant tendencies. Correlations revealed few significant relationships between the components of attitudes. The results are considered to be in line with previous research in the sense that attitudes toward mental illness are not highly structured.