Attitudes toward mental illness: the effects of electronic media and the social desirability bias

This study examined the effects of mental illness portrayal in film and the social desirability bias on participants\u27 attitudes toward mental illness. Participants watched video clips of a mentally ill character acting either normally or abnormally, and were given either anonymous or confidential questionnaires. Participants who viewed abnormal behavior reported more negative attitudes toward mental illness than participants who watched normal behavior (p \u3c .001) on the Beliefs Toward Mental Illness Scale (Hirai & Clum, 2000). No difference was found between the anonymous and confidential conditions, and these scores did not vary by the viewed behavior. These results suggest that the electronic media influenced participants\u27 attitudes toward mental illness, but participants were not influenced by the social desirability bias