The Influence of Specific Diagnosis and Trait Self-Relevance on Positive and Negative Perceptions of Individuals with a Mental Illness

We investigated perceptions of individuals with depression, schizophrenia, or no disorder and their relationships with desire for social distance and trait self-relevance. Positive and negative traits were associated with both disorders, predicting desire for social distance. Self-relevant traits were perceived in individuals with depression or no diagnosis, but not schizophrenia.