Family Values, Religiosity, and Emotional Reactions to Schizophrenia in Mexican and Anglo-American Cultures

This study was designed to test whether two socioculturel variables, family cohesion and religiosity, related to affective reactions toward schizophrenia. It was hypothesized that increasing perceptions of one's family as cohesive and religious would be associated with the expression of more favorable and less unfavorable emotions toward patients with the disorder. Eighty-eight Anglo-American undergraduates from Los Angeles and 88 Mexican undergraduates from Guadalajara read vignettes of a hypothetical family member described as meeting DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia. Results of this study suggest that perceptions of family unity may be one important factor underlying emotional reactions toward schizophrenia. As expected, increasing perceptions of family cohesion were associated with greater reports of favorable emotion and decreased reports of unfavorable emotion toward the patient. However, after controlling for social desirability, family cohesion no longer significantly predicted unfavorable affect. Contrary to expectations, religiosity was not found to predict unfavorable or favorable emotions. However, religiosity was found to covary with nationality. Mexicans, compared to Anglos, reported greater moral-religious values in their families. No national differences were found with respect to family cohesion. Implications of this study are discussed along with suggested directions for future research.