Projected Social Distances from Mental Patient Related Items by Male and Female Volunteers and Nonvolunteers

Abstract

A figure-placement procedure was used to measure projected social distances which students ( N = 179) perceived between themselves and several stimulus objects. Subjects ( N = 72) applying for a college volunteer program placed themselves significantly closer to “mental patient,” “retardate,” and related stimuli than did nonvolunteering subjects. No differences were found with control stimulus items. Although volunteers were similar to nonvolunteers, the critical difference between them was the projected distances they placed between themselves and “mental patient” and related stimuli. Dividing the data by sex showed that among nonvolunteers, males placed themselves significantly farther than females from “retardate,” “mental patient,” and to a lesser degree from “mental hospital.” For the male nonvolunteers, stimulus items, conveying a negative affect, elicited greater projected social distances than did the responses to stimulus objects conveying a positive or neutral affect.