Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Schizophrenia--Public opinion; Mental illness--Public opinion;

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess subjects' knowledge about schizophrenia in relation to their attitudes regarding the mentally ill. The variables' relationship with behavioral intentions toward persons with schizophrenia was also evaluated. A behavioral intentions scale, developed for use in this study, was completed by subjects in a preliminary study designed to establish the instruments' reliability. The research strategy employed in the principal study involved the use of three questionnaires: (a) the Knowledge of Mental Illness-- Schizophrenia Scale (Wahl, 1987); (b) Scales for Measuring Beliefs About the Mentally Ill (Dear & Taylor, 1982); and (c) the Behavioral Intentions Scale, developed by this author. The internal consistency reliability of the Behavioral Intentions Scale was assessed using Cronbach's (1951) coefficient alpha; results showed high estimates of reliability. The principal study tested for correlations between knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. As hypothesized, significant findings were obtained for knowledge about schizophrenia with attitudes regarding the mentally ill and with behavioral intentions toward schizophrenics. Results also showed significance for correlations between subscales of the Scales for Measuring Beliefs About the Mentally Ill (which included authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, and community mental health ideology) with behavioral intentions.

Year of Submission

1991

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Psychology

First Advisor

Francisco X. Barrios

Second Advisor

Andrew R. Gilpin

Third Advisor

Augustine Osman

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

1991

Object Description

1 PDF file (81 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Share

COinS