The Stigma of Severe Mental Illness to Male and Female Students of Psychology and MBA

Psycho-education and familiarity with severe mental illness arbitrate change in public stigma of severe mental illness. A survey study exploring the attributions of dangerousness and avoidance from people with severe mental illness was carried out. The study employed opportunity sampling and sixty students (m=30; f=30) half of which were students of Psychology and the other half were students of MBA. The students’ familiarity with severe mental illness, the perception of dangerousness and the desire to avoid from persons with severe mental illness were gathered via a self-administered electronic survey. More females than males showed a heightened level of fear and avoidance from persons with severe mental illness. However, students with a psychology background showed more desire for social inclusion and lower perception of dangerousness than the MBA. Similarly, students with the high level of familiarity showed less fear and more tolerance towards persons with severe mental illness than students with low level of familiarity, which supported the earlier findings.