Cognitive and Affective Rejection of Mentally ILL Persons as a Function of Dogmatism

Abstract

Cognitive and affective attitudes toward the mentally ill were studied in introductory social psychology students categorized on the basis of their dogmatism. On a purely cognitive level highly dogmatic Ss held more stereotypical attitudes toward the mentally ill than low-dogmatic Ss. After a series of regularly scheduled lectures on the social psychology of deviance in a normal classroom situation, highly dogmatic Ss significantly decreased their stereotypical attitudes toward the mentally ill. However, on semantic-differential scales to measure affective attitudes toward the mentally ill highly dogmatic Ss increased their affective rejection of the mentally ill after this series of regularly scheduled lectures. There was no difference between high- and low-dogmatic Ss on an objective test measuring learning with respect to the lectures on deviance. The implications of these data for dogmatism theory are discussed, especially in terms of the relationship between dogmatism, anxiety, and the cognitive and affective rejection of others.