Public attitudes towards the mentally ill: a cross-cultural study between Bali and Tokyo

Abstract

The present study investigates the differences in public attitudes towards the mentally ill in Bali (Indonesia) and Tokyo (Japan), the former being a non-industrialized society and the latter an industrialized society in Asia. Seventy-seven residents of Bali and 66 residents from Tokyo were examined by a devaluation-discrimination measure and a self-assessment questionnaire to gauge their reactions to five imaginary case study vignettes consisting of three cases of schizophrenia, one case of a depressive episode, and one case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Balinese respondents had significantly lower devaluation-discrimination measure scores, indicating a more favorable global attitude towards persons with a history of psychiatric treatment than did respondents in Tokyo. However, the extent to which people were prejudicial against mental patients in the two societies varied with the kinds of mental disorders, with Balinese having a more positive attitude to schizophrenics but more negative to depressive and obsessive-compulsive patients.