Stereotype Knowledge and Endorsement in Schizophrenia

Abstract

Background: Social cognition is severely impaired in schizophrenia. Emotion processing, attributional biases, and theory of mind are often impaired, as well as the understanding of shared social knowledge. So far, little is known about stereotype knowledge and endorsement in schizophrenia.

Sampling and methods: White patients with schizophrenia and matched healthy respondents reported both their personal beliefs and the predicted beliefs of other people toward Black (study 1) and Gypsy individuals (study 2).

Results: Results showed that respondents in the clinical sample displayed less stereotype endorsement as compared to the matched healthy respondents. Most importantly, the contents of the responses provided by the 2 samples were strongly overlapped.

Conclusions: Findings indicate that individuals with schizophrenia tend to hold less negative attitudes toward stigmatized outgroups and, most notably, that knowledge about culturally transmitted stereotypes is relatively preserved in schizophrenia. Future research should address the generalizability of the findings in relation to the perception of other stigmatized social groups.

Keywords: Schizophrenia; Social cognition; Stereotypes.