Abstract
The media perpetuates many harmful stereotypes about people with mental illness (e.g., that
they are dangerous). This is a serious issue as, for most people, the media is a primary source
of information about people with mental illness. In the present thesis, we examine the impact
of media portrayals of mental illness on prejudice. To this end, two studies were conducted. In
Study 1, we assessed the impact of media portrayals of mental illness by having participants
either watch the movie Joker, a recent film which associates mental illness with violent
behaviour, or a control film (Terminator). It was predicted that participants who watched Joker
would display an increase in prejudice towards people with mental illness, relative to
participants in a control condition. Consistent with this hypothesis, participants who watched
Joker displayed an increase in prejudice, while participants in the control condition displayed
no change. In Study 2, in an attempt to reduce the prejudice perpetuated by the Joker film, we
added an educational on-screen message after the film. These statements challenged the view
that people with mental illness are violent. It was predicted that participants viewing the version
of Joker with the messages would display a less marked increase in prejudice relative to
participants who watched the film without the educational messages. This prediction was
supported. Together, these studies show that media portrayals of mental illness (as depicted in
Joker) can promote prejudice against those with mental illness. Further, although not a silver
bullet, this effect can be attenuated with educational messages that appear at the end of the
film.