Reconsidering the social rejection of ex-mental patients: Levels of attitudinal response

Public attitudes are conceptualized as involving four levels: the ideal level, the level of expressed attitudes, the level of attitudes as acted upon, and the deep level. While direct assessments of these attitude levels are not possible, three indicators are developed to serve as preliminary assessments. An experiment was conducted in which labeling information (labeled a mental hospital patient vs. not labeled), behavior ("normal man" vs. "anxiety neurotic" vignettes), and the three indicators of attitude level were varied. A sample of 153 persons in a small midwestern city was asked to assess the vignette material presented to them by answering five social distance questions. The results showed that when an individual is labeled, ideal attitudes are more positive than attitudes as expressed. These are, in turn, more positive than an indicator of attitudes as acted upon and deep attitudes. Future research should develop strategies which assess these deeper attitudes before conclusions are made about the public's acceptance of former mental patients.