School- and family-based socioeconomic status, attitudes about mental illness, and social desirability bias

People of higher socioeconomic status (SES) express more positive attitudes toward people with mental illness (PWMI). However, it is possible that higher SES individuals, influenced by “political correctness,” may express but not actually hold more positive attitudes. Previous studies are based on explicitly stated attitudes, which are vulnerable to social desirability bias. In this study, we have several types of data that should be affected to varying degrees by social desirability bias: closed-ended responses about attitudes; open-ended descriptions of “mental illness;” closed-ended responses about behaviors toward PWMI; and implicit (unconscious) attitudes toward PWMI. There is substantial socioeconomic variability in our sample, both at individual and school levels. Previous studies of SES and mental-illness attitudes have been based exclusively on individual-level SES. However, there may be important SES-related socialization taking place in schools as well as in families, and our study provides an opportunity to assess whether school-level SES shapes children's attitudes above and beyond SES-related socialization occurring in their families. We examine the impact of individual- and school-level SES on the full range of mental-illness attitudes and behaviors measured in the study, to assess whether SES is related to attitudes and behaviors overall, and more specifically whether there are patterns in these associations such that, for example, SES differences are more pronounced for explicit attitude measures than for the other measures. Because of the range of measures included, this analysis will make an important contribution to understanding whether SES increases acceptance of PWMI or only the verbal expression of acceptance.