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Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The aim of this study was to learn whether positive media portrayals of schizophrenia affect people’s attitudes toward individuals with schizophrenia. Fifty (50) participants viewed one of two videos—either a control video showing a documentary about koalas or a treatment clip from the television show Perception that portrays a professor with schizophrenia effectively teaching a class. After viewing the video, participants rated their attitudes toward a person with schizophrenia on a dangerousness scale as well as on cognitive and behavioral attitudes scales. The participants who watched the treatment clip rated people with schizophrenia as significantly less dangerous and had significantly more positive cognitive attitudes toward them compared to those who viewed the control video. There was no significance in behavioral attitudes between the two groups.

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