Opinions About Mental Illness and Political Ideology
ALEXANDER TOLOR PH.D.1
1 Research Professor of Psychology and Director, Institute for Human Development, Fairfield University, 611 North Benson Rd., Fairfield, Conn. 06430
The author examines the relationship between attitudes toward mental illness and psychiatric patients on the one hand and reactions to the withdrawal of Senator Thomas Eagleton as a candidate for Vice-President on the other. A sample of 384 undergraduate college students was surveyed with the Opinions about Mental Illness (OMI) scale and a specifically devised political ideology scale. The results indicated that OMI factor scores were substantially related to political views.
