Identification of the Phenomenon of Cognitive Polyphasia about Mental Illness Using the Projective Technique «Bubbles»

The article discusses the results of the application of the projective technique "Bubbles" in the study of social representations of mental illness. The purpose of the study: to identify multidirectional social perceptions of mental illness. Research hypothesis: respondents' social perceptions of mental illness are characterized by duality. The sample consisted of Muslims – N = 111 (men – 53, women – 58 people) and Orthodox Christians – N = 114 (men – 49 people, women – 65 people), non–believers – N=113 (men – 76 people, women - 37 people), aged 18-23, 40-45, 60-65 years old, living in Moscow. Used: the author's questionnaire, which included 29 statements, the "Bubbles" technique. It was found that in both groups of respondents, the core of the JV about the mentally ill contains elements that demonstrate a positive orientation. The use of the "Bubbles" projective technique revealed the predominant negative nature of the perception of mentally ill people in three groups of respondents (the least negative perception in the group of respondents of Muslims (p<0.07). Respondents of the studied groups aged 18-23 years demonstrate the most positive representation of a mentally ill person than respondents aged 60-65 years (p<0.08). Thus, the results obtained with the help of a quantitative survey are in contradiction with the results of the qualitative method, thereby revealing the coexistence of SPS of different content, and therefore, allowing us to assert the phenomenon of cognitive polyphasia.