The Effect of Controllability on Stigma Toward Mental Illness

90% of US adults with a mental illness report that stigma negatively impacts their lives.  Within mental illness stigma, controllability could influence sigma such that neurobiological explanations (low controllability) were associated with greater desire for social distance but not reduced blame. Additionally, the language used to describe a condition could inform stigma of mental illness ; identity-first, relative to person-first, language is argued to propagate stigma. The current work investigates the independent and interactive effects of controllability and language on dimensions of stigma toward people with mental illness.