Roles of perception of similarities, continuum beliefs and social distance towards a person with schizophrenia: A German representative sample study

Abstract People with schizophrenia are often perceived as fundamentally different from oneself, a notion closely tied to mental illness stigma. The current study examines the interrelation between perception of similarities (semantic differential: similar-different scale) and continuum beliefs in the context of schizophrenia-related stigma (desire for social distance) in a German population sample (N = 760). Perception of similarities and continuum beliefs were significantly associated with lower desire for social distance explaining about 12% variance in an additive regression model. Continuum beliefs partially mediated the relation of perception of similarities and desire for social distance. Implications for mental illness stigma interventions are discussed.