PREDICTING ROLE AND PREVALENCE OF PREJUDICE, DISCRIMINATION AND SOCIAL INCLUSION AMONG HEALTHY POPULATION

Abstract

Mental health disorders/illnesses are a significant cause of public health worry. They are being projected to affect up to 450 million people around the globe (World Health Organization, 2003). Consequently, the identification of prominent facets that can enhance or aggravate an individual’s mental health is essential therefore this study endeavored to investigate the prevalence of stigma, prejudice, and discrimination towards people with mental illness and to the relationship among them. The sample comprised of participant (N = 191; Males n = 36, Females n = 155) age ranges from 18 to 59 years (M = 24.76, SD = 5.44) belonged to both nuclear and joint families of Karachi, Pakistan. To measure their stigma, prejudice, and discrimination, Prejudice Towards People with Mental Illness Kenny, Bizumic, & Griffiths, 2018), Devaluation- Discrimination Measure (Link, et al., 1991), and a self-developed social inclusion Scale (Bogardus format) were used, respectively. The findings revealed that the prejudicial attitude of the general population towards the people who are suffering from mental health illness/disorders is of moderate level i.e., most participants lie at a moderate level of prejudice, discrimination also lies at a moderate level where  33% of the participants are willing to include the people who suffer from  mental illness as their partner and 31.4 % are ready to accept them in their family- depicting that people are being socially inclusive towards people with mental illness. Further the results also illustrate a significant negative relationship between prejudice and social inclusion, however, no significant relationship was observed with discrimination. The results support the notion of social inclusion and will aid future researchers to explore the factors that influence prejudicial beliefs, discriminatory behavior, and inclusive attitude in society.