Changes in attitudes towards mental illness following exposure.

Attitudes towards mental patients influence the treatment they receive and decisions of policymakers. It is important to modify attitudes of students who may work with them. Psychopathology course students (45 visited a mental institution, 56 volunteered in it, and 12 neither) and 53 introductory psychology students participated in this study. Benevolence, mental hygiene etiology and interpersonal etiology (opinions about mental illness scale) improved from beginning to end of year. Working proved more important than visiting or studying. Visiting increased social restrictiveness. Therefore, a small amount of exposure (a visit) can be detrimental. These results point to the possible superiority of prolonged, intimate exposure, on an equal basis, in changing attitudes towards mental health patients.