Explaining prejudice toward the mentally ill: A test of sociopolitical, demographic, and socioeconomic factors

People with mental disorders often face prejudices that can further deteriorate their condition.
We tested whether Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA),
and Belief in a Just World (BJW), and characteristics of the mentally ill predict such prejudices.
Both in a general population sample and a sample of health professionals and trainees, SDO, but
not RWA and BJW, predicted more prejudice, although this pattern was less pronounced among
health professionals/trainees. BJW interacted with the targets’ gender in Study 1, predicting less
empathy toward a male but not toward a female mentally ill person. In Study 2, depressed individuals
were blamed more for their illness than those with schizophrenia or cancer. Implications for
future research and clinical practice are discussed.