Public Stigma and Personal Networks: Confronting the Limitations of Unidimensional Measures of Social Contact

Abstract

One of the most promising directions for reducing mental illness stigma lies in Allport’s contact theory, which suggests that intergroup interactions reduce stigma. Here, we argue that stigmatizing attitudes are driven by the nature, magnitude, and valence of community-based ties to people with mental illness (PMI), not simply their presence. Using the 2018 General Social Survey (N = 1,113), we compare network-based measures of contact to traditional survey indicators. We find that knowing someone with mental illness, or even number of people known, explains little about desire for social distance, perceptions of dangerousness, or endorsement of treatment coercion. However, having stronger relationships with more PMI, having more friends and family (but not more peripheral ties) with mental illness, and knowing people in treatment are associated with less stigma endorsement. In contrast, we find that exposure to PMI who are perceived as dangerous is associated with greater levels of stigma.