Abstract
So far, researchers have, for the most part, used lists of Likert-scaled items in their quantitative analysis of lay beliefs about the causes of mental disorders. With the help of factor analyses they have then sought to identify the independent dimensions of the attitudinal space. In contrast, it is the aim of multiple unidimensional unfolding, which shall be presented in this paper, to establish a latent dimension of the order of preference regarding the causes offered as an explanation for the development of mental disorders. Using data from a representative survey examining the attitude of the general public of the new “Länder” of the Federal Republic of Germany towards mental disorders, which was conducted during 1993, it can be shown that 11 of the 15 causal factors offered may be arranged along an unfolding scale. The centre of the scale was characterized by the item “God's will or fate”. Psychosocial stress factors constituted one pole of the scaie, personality disorders, the other. In between we found both external and biological influences over which the afflicted individuals had no control. Analogies to the concept of locus of control are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angermeyer MC, Klusmann D (1988) The causes of functional psychoses as seen by patients and their relatives. I. The patients' point of view. For Arch Psychiatry Neurol Sci 238: 47–54
Angermeyer MC, Matschinger H (1994) Laientheorien über schizophrene Störungen und deren Behandlung: Ein Vergleich zwischen den neuen und den alten Bundesländern der BRD. In: Peters UH, Schifferdecker M, Krahl A (Hrsg) 150 Jahre Psychiatrie. Eine vielgestaltige Psychiatrie für dic Welt von morgen. Martini, Köln
Angermeyer MC et al (1988) The causes of functional psychoses as seen by patients and their relatives. II. The relatives' point of view. Eur Arch Psychiatry Neurol Sci 238: 55–61
Blizard PJ (1968) Public images of the mentally ill in New Zealand. NZ Med J 68: 297–303
Buchholz A (1991) Altagskonzepte psychischer Krankheit. Subjektive Theorien von Angehörigen. In: Flick U (Hrsg) Allagswissen über Gesundheit und Krankheit. Asanger, Heidelberg, 127–143
Coombs C (1964) A theory of data. Wiley, New York
Cumming E, Cumming J (1957) Closed ranks. An experiment in metal health education. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, USA
Eisenbruch M (1990) Classifications of natural and supernatural causes of mental distress. Development of a mental distress explanatory model questionnaire. J Nerv Ment Dis 178: 712–719
Estroff SE, Lachicotte WS, Illingworth LC, Johnston A (1991) Everybody's got a little mental illness: accounts of illness and self among people with severe, persistent mental illnesses. Med Anthropol Q 5: 331–369
Faust V (1981) Der psychisch Kranke in unserer, Gesellschaft. Hippokrates, Stuttgart
Foulks EF, Bersons JB, Merkel RL (1986) The effect of patients' beliefs about their illness on compliance in psychotherapy. Am J Psychiatry 143: 340–344
Furnham A, Bower P (1992) A comparison of academic and lay theories of schizophrenia. Br J Psychiatry 161: 201–211
Furnham A, Kuyken W (1991) Lay theories of depression. J Soc Behav Pers 6: 329–342
Furnham A, Rees J (1988) Lay theories of schizophrenia. Int J Soc Psychiatry 34: 212–220
Graves GD, Krupinsky S, Stoller A, Harcourt A (1971) A survey of community attitudes towards mental illness. Aus J Psychiatry 5: 19–27
Hambrecht M, Hohmann M (1993) Causal attributions in psychiatric patients. Eur Arch Psychiatry Neurol Sci 242: 318–320
Hoiitink H (1991) Measurement of latent triats by proximity items. DSWO-Press, Leiden
Hohl J (1983) Gespräche mit Angehörigen psychiatrischer Patienten. Werkstattschriften zur Sozialpsychiatrie, Bd 36. Psychiatrie-Verlag, Loccum
Jaeckel M, Wieser S (1970) Das Bild des Geisteskranken in der Öffentlichkeit, Thieme, Stuttgart
Jodelet D (1989) Folies et représentations sociales. Presses Universitaries de France, Paris
Kuyken W, Brewin CR, Power MJ, Furnham A (1992) Causal beliefs about depression in depressed patients, clinical psychologists and lay persons. Br J Med Psychol 65: 257–268
Levenson H (1972) Distinctions within the concept of internalexternal control: development of a new scale. Proc 80th Annu Convent Am Psychol 7: 261–262
Levenson H (1974) Activism and powerful others: distrinction within the concepts of international-external control. J Pers Assess 38: 377–383
MacLean U (1969) Community attitudes to mental illness in Edinburgh. Br J Prev Soc Med 23: 45–52
Mokken RJ (1971) A theory and procedure of scale analysis. De Gruyter, New York
Mutz G, Kühnlein I (1991) Lebensgeschichte als Skript? In: Flick U (Hrsg) Alltagswissen über Gesundheit und Krankheit. Asanger, Heidelberg, 230–245
Narikiyo A, Kameoka VA (1992) Attributions of mental illness and judgements about help seeking among japanese-American and white-American students. J Counsel Psychol 39: 363–369
Norman RMG, Malla AK (1983) Adolescents' attitudes towards mental illness: relationship components and sex differences. Soc Psychiatry 18: 45–50
Post W (1992) Nonparametric unfolding models. DSWO-Press, Leiden
Rotter JB (1966) Generalized expectancies for internal vs external control of reinforcement. Psychol Monogr 80
Sheehan W, Kroll J (1990) Psychiatric patient's belief in general health factors and sin as causes of mental illness. Am J Psychiatry 147: 112–113
Stark FM, Stolle R (1994a) Schizophrenie: Subjektive Krankheitstheorien-Eine explorative Studie. Teil 1: Patienten. Psychiatr Prax 21: 74–78
Stark FM, Stolle R (1994b) Schizophrenie: Subjektive Krankheitstheorien. Eine explorative Studie. Teil 2: Angehörige, Psychiatr Prax 21: 96–100
Stoneall L, Schmitt RL (1994) Lay person's experience with mental illness Stud Symbol Interac 5: 197–218
Van Schuur WH (1984) Structure in political beliefs, a new model for stochastic unfolding with application to European party activities. CT-Press, Amsterdam
Van Schuur WH, Wiestra T (1987) MUDFOLD manual. IEC ProGamma, Groningen
Weinstein RM, Brill NQ (1971) Social class and patient's perception of mental illness. Psychiatr Q 45: 101–108
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Matschinger, H., Angermeyer, M.C. Lay beliefs about the causes of mental disorders: a new methodological approach. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 31, 309–315 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00783418
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00783418