General cognition of various mental illnesses: Focusing on the Stereotype Content Model

Abstract

Negative stereotypes of mental illness have many kinds of undesirable effects on patients. Existing research has mainly investigated stereotypes of“mental illness”as a general term that covers various kinds of illnesses. While there might be differences among the stereotypes of different specific illnesses, this issue has not been fully focused on in Japan. In the current study, we used the Stereotype Content Model to visualize the stereotype of eight mental illnesses and“mental illness (general term).”The result showed that each mental illness is characterized by distinct stereotype patterns, with differences in associations between competence/warmth and various cognitive aspects (e.g., responsibility, dangerousness, and seriousness) being observed, depending on the mental illness. We discuss the cause of differences in stereotypes for each mental illness and suggest the importance of investigating specific stereotypes in future research.