This document summarizes research on variables that influence attitudes toward mentally ill individuals. It reviews literature showing stigma toward the mentally ill and discusses how attributes like race, education level, socioeconomic status, and knowing someone with a mental illness may impact views. The study aims to examine how these variables correlate with preferences around avoiding, feeling sympathy for, and spending time with mentally ill persons using General Social Survey data. It hypothesizes that higher education and being white predict less prejudice, as does having received mental health treatment or knowing someone who has.

1. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 1
“ARE YOU INSANE?”: VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES
TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL
Jen Kelly
Erin Pratt
Ty Lindsay
Winthrop University
SOCL 516

2. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 2
INTRODUCTION
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “25% of all adults in the
United States, and nearly 50% of U.S. adults will develop at least one mental illness in their
lifetime” (CDC 2011). Due to the extremely high prevalence of mental illness diagnoses,
discussion of mental illness and attitudes toward them become even more important to
contemporary research. Individuals tend to stray away from the topic of and those suffering from
mental health issues due to the stigma and labeling that come into play with a mental illness
diagnosis. GOffman (1963) defines stigma as an “attribute or characteristic that is discrediting”
to the individual. In other words, it is any trait that makes an individual less accepted in one’s
society. Stigma becomes even more evident when incidents such as the Newton, Connecticut
shooting occur, and the shooter, Adam Lanza, is speculated to be suffering from mental health
issues (Walkup 2012; Rubin 2012). It provides support for the idea that mental illness could be
something to fear, or see as potentially dangerous simply based on one extreme case.
Prejudice toward individuals with mental illnesses appears to be a topic which is not
receiving significant research attention. Prior research has looked into the ways in which those
with mental illnesses are stigmatized, and how that affects their world and the way society treats
them. However, research has neglected to look deeper into correlations amongst individuals on
the side of mental illness and the variables behind their reactions toward someone who is
considered mentally ill. There is a myriad of research on the topics of stigmatization and labeling
theory, but less discussion of demographic variables that are involved with attitudes toward
people with mental illnesses. Furthermore, there is limited research available on the

3. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 3
stigmatization of the mentally ill in relation to the individual’s race, education level. and
socioeconomic status.
Our research uses data from the General Social SUrvey to examine the ways in which an
individual’s race, education level, and socioeconomic status affect his or her reactions and
behaviors toward those perceived as mentally ill. More specifically, we examine variables related
to avoiding individuals with mental health issues, feeling sympathy toward those individuals, and
one’s willingness to spend time with persons with mental illness. We considered the variable
responses related to sympathy and willingness to spend time with the mentally ill individuals
more positive views and behaviors whereas those pertaining to an unwillingness to spend time
with these individuals and avoidant behaviors were considered more negative. We hypothesized
that as an individual’s education level increases; there will be a decrease in prejudice towards
people with mental illness. We also predicted there will be less prejudice among the white
population than any other racial group. We predict that having received treatment for a mental
health issue will positively influence one’s willingness to spend time with an individual with
mental illness. We assumed knowing someone who has received treatment for mental health
issues would positively influence an individual’s willingness to spend time with mentally ill
individuals. Lastly, we hypothesized that the lower and higher class individuals will exhibit more
prejudiced attitudes toward the mentally ill than those in the middle class.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Researchers have previously discussed the severity of s tigma toward individuals with
mental illness (Perry 2011; CDC 2011). As defined by Corrigan et. al (2010), public stigma is
the creation of prejudicial attributes of the mentally ill by the general public (206). For instance,

4. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 4
Perry’s (2011) research focused on how the mentally ill feel they have been stigmatized, and
their opinions about others’ views toward them. He found that, “about seventeen percent report
that someone seemed unwilling to make friends [with them], and 20 percent indicated that
someone has broken off a friendship because of their mental illness; (Perry 2011:467). Perphas
these percentages are based solely on the individual’s perceptions, in which case they would not
seem as credible as the outsiders’ actual opinions toward the mentally ill. However, they are a
prime example of how stigma not only affects outsiders’ views, but also the individuals on the
inside as well; those with mental illness. Stigma has grave implications on how they see the
world, and how they believe the world sees them, and their perception usually pertains to
negative attitudes from outsiders. Perry (2011) concludes with a discussion of the need or
research that looks into the education level variable, which our present research focuses on.
Various researchers have looked into similar variables to our present research (Freeman,
1961, McLaughlin et. al, 2012, Papadopulos et. al, 2002). Freeman (1961; 60), focused on age,
class and education level as important indicators of feelings toward the mentally ill among
relatives of former patients. He found that “the younger and more educated persons in the
community have been found to be...more willing to associated with former patients…”
(Freeman, 1961; 60). Additionally, Freeman (1961; 60) found that family members in higher
social classes feel more positivity toward the former patients and the hospital experience as a
whole versus those of a lower social class. However, his article is relatively outdated,
considering it was written in the 1960s, and society has incurred changes over time.
Additionally, there could be differences between the individuals he looked at ­ the relatives of
former patients ­ and the rest of society in terms of views on mental illness. Popadopulos (2002;

5. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 5
431­432) focused his research on two particular races to see how they viewed mental illness. He
looked at the white­English people and the Greek­Cypriot, which are the ethnic Greek population
of Cyprus. For both groups, Papadopulos examined sex, race, age, social class, education level,
knowledge about mental illness, and contact with mentally ill people. He found more
stigmatizing views among the Greek­Cypriot group, the lower social class individuals, and those
with low educational attainment levels. While Papadopulos looked at assorted variables
associated with views toward mental illness, his research was focused on Greece. It would be
interesting to see if racial or ethnic differences were also important in the United States context.
McLaughlin et. at (2012) looked at variables which influence the presence of mental
illness in individuals. which contrasts with our aim to look at similar variables in the context of
outsider opinions versus the actual cases of mental illness. For example, he looked at perceived
socioeconomic status among individuals with mental illness. and the correlations between the
status and the prevalence of mental illness cases. There were no conclusive finding from
McLaughlin’s (2012) research on socioeconomic status, which further implements our need to
not only look into the class variable, but to also do so from the outsider’s view of mental illness
because such has not yet been done in the United States since the 1960s.
In addition to the aforementioned articles, several researchers have discussed the concept
of social distance in its relation to interacting with those with mental illness (Lucas & Phelan,
2012, and Lauber, 2004). Lucas and Phelan (2012) define social distance as “deliberate effort to
avoid another or exclude another from social interaction” (1)/ Their research asked participants
to choose between keeping their fabricated mentally ill partner or antother individual, and their
results depicted mentally ill individuals as victims of social distancing eighty percent of the time

6. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 6
(Lucas & Phelan, 2012; 10). Lauber (2004; 268) researched social distance with mental illness in
different social contexts. He asked questions pertaining to activities with mentally ill individuals
such as, “would you be willing to start work with a person who has a mental illness, would you
make friends with a person with mental illness, and would you let your child marry a person with
a mental illness?” (Lauber 2004; 268). Results found that individuals were comfortable with
minimal contact with mentally ill individuals based on their negative perceptions of the mentally
ill (Lauber, 2004). Lauber (2004) failed to look into the variables associated with the individuals
who offered these opinions, which is what our present research aims to describe through similar
questions that involve the social distance concept.
Additionally, research exists about the added stigma of mental illness on racial minority
groups but little to no research can be found on the stigmatizing behaviors that the individuals
who belong to those groups impose on those with mental illness (Corrigan et. al 2010, and
Brown et. al 2010.) For instance, Corrigan et. al (2010 stated, “people who come out about their
mental illnesses may expose themselves to ​additional​ (emphasis is our own) discrimination and
social disapproval’ (260). Brown et. al (2010) mentions how this increase in stigma affects their
willingness to seek treatment, but does not state anything about racial minorities and mental
illness views in general (353). To the best of our knowledge, prior research has not investigated
the views of racial minority groups toward those with mental illness.
Prior research has focus on the stigmatization of mentally ill, variables associated with
the prevalence of mental illness, and how public stigma is influenced by race, sex, age, education
level, and perceived socioeconomic status. Our research takes a different approach in examining
variable influences of mental illness perceptions. In the next section we discuss the data we used

7. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 7
to study this phenomenon as well as our methods of analysis. That is followed by the findings
and finally, a discussion of the implications of this research.
METHODS
For data, we turned to the 2006 General Social Survey (GSS) carried out by the National
Opinion Research Center, which contains measures that are relevant for addressing prejudice
against people with mental health issues. The 2006 General Social Survey shows twenty­two
questions that mention mental health or mental illness. Of these, we carefully selected two
variables to represent two different dimensions of prejudice towards the mentally ill: mhsymp
and mhsocial. Degree of sympathy respondents reported feeling towards mentally ill individuals
was measured by the variable mhsymp. Respondents were able to choose from four different
responses ranging from no sympathy at all to quite a bit of sympathy. Willingness to spend time
with mentally ill individuals was measured by the variable mhsocial; their answer choices ranged
from definitely willing (4) to definitely unwilling (1).
Dependent Variables
We investigated respondents; attitudes toward the mentally ill in the form of two
dependent variables, how much sympathy the respondent felt for mentally ill individuals in
public places (mhsymp). The sample size for the sympathy question was 1,156 respondents, and
the frequencies are as follows: 1% reported feeling no sympathy, 25.5% reporting feeling a little
sympathy, 40.6% reported feeling quite a bit of sympathy, and 32.8% reported feeling a great
deal of sympathy. Whether or not the respondent would spend time socializing with mentally ill
individuals was classified in the variable mhsocial, with a sample size for the socializing
question was 1,398 respondents. 26.5% of respondents were definitely willing, 50.4% were

8. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 8
probably willing, 18.6% were probably unwilling, and 4.6% were definitely unwilling. We aim
to explain these attitudes through examining the influences of the independent variables ­ race,
education level, income, whether the respondent has received treatment for mental health issues,
and if they know someone who has received treatment ­ on each of the the two indicators of
prejudice toward the mentally ill.
Independent Variables
We dummy coded three independent variables (mhtrtslf, mhtrtot2, and race) for the
purposes of multivariate analysis. For the variable mhtrtslf, respondents were asked if they have
received mental health treatments. We recoded this variable into a new variable: hadtreatment. In
the new variable hadtreatment, a value of 1 was given to respondents who said they have
received mental health treatment, and a value of 0 was given to those who reported no prior
mental health treatment. 15.1% of respondents reported receiving prior treatment and 84.9%
reported receiving no treatment. The same recoding was done for the variable mhtrtot2, with the
creation of the new variable knowtreated. In this variable, a value of 1 was given to those who
responded with knowing someone who has had mental health treatment, and a value of 0 was
given to those who reported not knowing someone. 68.4% of respondents reported knowing
someone who received treatment and 31.6% reported not knowing someone who received
treatment. Lastly, we dummy coded the race variable as well. This variable was recoded into
three separate variables: white, black and other. For white, a value of 1 was given to all
respondents who reported being white, and all other responses were given a value of 0, For
black, a value of 1 was given to all respondents who reported being black, and all other

9. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 9
responses were given a value of 0. The same process was applied to the variable other. Of our
sample, 72.8% of respondents were white, 14.1% were black, and 13.1% were other races.
We recoded our last two independent variables by collapsing the data into fewer, less
precise categories. We recoded the variable education (educ) from twenty individual values
(ranking each grade level from never entering school, to completing a graduate degree or more)
to five values. We recoded the variable in this way to account for shortcomings in alternative
variables. The variable degree did not account for respondents who never entered high school,
but the variable educ did not group respondents. One represents never attending school; two
represents completing through middle school (previously one through eight); three represents
completing an education through high school (previously nine through twelve). The new value of
four represents completing through a bachelor’s degree (previously coded as thirteen through
sixteen). Finally, the value of five was given to anyone who responded as completing higher than
a bachelor’s degree. In our sample, 0.5% of respondents had received no formal education, 5.9%
completed middle school, 37.7% completed high school, 43.3% received a bachelor’s degree,
and 12.6% reported further education. Income (income06) was recoded from an original
twenty­eight values (from $0 to $150,000) into five new values. One represents $0 to $24,999;
two represents $25,000 to $49,999 (previously fifteen through eighteen); and three represents
$50,000 to $74,999 (formerly nineteen and twenty). The created value of four represents $75,000
to $149,999 (previously representative of values twenty­one through twenty­four). The final
value of five was given to incomes of $150,000 and above. In our sample, 29.7% of respondents
were in the first income bracket, 27.2% were in the second, 17.9% were in the third, 19.7% were
in the fourth, and 5.5% were in the fifth income bracket.

10. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 10
FINDINGS
We hypothesized that prior mental health treatment would influence one’s willingness to
spend time with mentally ill individuals. In support of this, a chi­square analysis showed that
there was a significant relationship (p=.009) between the aforementioned variables. 77.6% of
individuals who had received prior treatment reported that they were either definitely willing or
probably willing to spend time with a person with a mental illness as opposed to those who had
no prior treatment. Surprisingly, we did not find a significant relationship between knowing
someone who has received mental health treatment and the willingness to spend time with
mentally ill individuals.
Our analysis shows that there is a moderately significant difference between income and
willingness to spend time with mentally ill individuals with a significance level of p .032, and≤
between degree of sympathy and income level as well (p .015).≤
Additionally, there was a significant (p .008) relationship between degree of sympathy≤
and having received prior treatment. Individuals who have received prior treatment reported
more responses of quite a bit of or a great deal of sympathy for the mentally ill than those who
had not received prior treatment, which supports our hypothesis.
Lastly, there was a moderately significant (p .014) difference between one’s degree of≤
sympathy toward the mentally ill and level of income, but there was not a significant difference
between the level of income and willingness to spend time with mentally ill individuals.
Next, to be sure that the relationships we found were robust, we conducted a regression
that controlled for all variables in the analysis simultaneously. Although the relationships
between willingness to spend time and our other significant variables diminished somewhat,

11. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 11
income is still a significant predictor. Based on the standardized coefficients. the most important
predictor of willingness to spend time with the mentally ill appears to be level of income. Income
has a moderately significant positive net effect on willingness to spend time, which means that as
income level increases, the willingness to spend time increases.
We ran a regression test for the sympathy variable as well. Income and having received
prior treatment were significant predictors of the degree of sympathy an individual reported
feeling toward mentally ill individuals, with income as the most important predictor with a
significance level or p .10.≤
CONCLUSIONS
Our research shows that prejudice towards the mentally ill is a more random than
predicted behavior. We hypothesized that variables such as race, social class, education level,
income, having received prior mental health treatment or knowing someone who has received
prior mental health treatment would influence someone’s prejudice towards the mentally ill, but
what we found was much different. The only significant variables were having had prior
treatment and income. Both of these variables influenced the dependent variables willingness to
spend time with mentally ill individuals and degree of sympathy felt towards mentally ill
individuals. While we thought that the majority of people’s race, education, income level, having
received prior treatment and knowing someone who had received prior treatment would have a
significant impact on prejudice towards the mentally ill, only income and having received prior
treatment show significance with 95% confidence.
It is interesting that our research found income to be the main variable that seemed to
influence individuals’ prejudice toward the mentally ill. Future research could focus more on this

12. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 12
correlation to see if some causing factors could be discovered. Another interesting direction our
research could go in the future is the form of a longitudinal study. While several of our variables
did not result in statistically significant findings in a data set of one year, perhaps the variables
will show interesting significant changes over time. Finally, our research would benefit from
replication. It would be exceedingly interesting to see how our result compare to those who run
the same tests in the future.

13. VARIABLES INFLUENCING ATTITUDES TOWARD THE MENTALLY ILL 13
Works Cited
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