Ethnicity and Mental Illness Stigma in Aotearoa New Zealand

Mental illness stigma continues to be a significant issue globally; however, less is known about this stigma within the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. The current study aimed to analyse the relationship between ethnicity and stigmatising attitudes towards those with mental illness in Aotearoa New Zealand. Utilising data from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study (NZAVS), we used linear mixed‐effects models to assess the relationships between a stigmatising attitude (i.e., ratings of warmth towards those with mental illness) and ethnicity, controlling for a range of demographic factors. We found that this stigmatising attitude towards those with mental illness was higher among Asian and European participants but lower among Māori and Pacific participants. Overall, these findings offer support to notions that non‐Western ethnicity is associated with less stigmatising attitudes and not ubiquitously associated with greater stigma. These results offer nuance to our understanding of stigma towards people with mental illness in Aotearoa New Zealand, specifically informing ethnic and cultural considerations in the development of interventions to reduce this stigma. Given the multifaceted nature of stigma and our research being limited to one aspect of stigma, future research investigating other operationalisations of stigma are essential to substantiate our findings.