Table 2 Final 28 items from the PPMI scale and their factor loadings on the respective content factors from the CFA in Study 2 (N = 164) and 3 (N = 495)

 I would find it hard to talk to someone who has a mental illness

 I would be less likely to become romantically involved with someone if I knew they were mentally ill

 It is best to avoid people who have mental illness

 I would feel unsafe being around someone who is mentally ill

 I would be just as happy to invite a person with mental illness into my home as I would anyone else*

 I would feel relaxed if I had to talk to someone who was mentally ill*

 I am not scared of people with mental illness*

 In general, it is easy to interact with someone who has mental illness*

 People who are mentally ill are avoiding the difficulties of everyday life

 People with mental illness should support themselves and not expect handouts

 People who develop mental illness are genetically inferior to other people

 People with mental illness do not deserve our sympathy

 We, as a society, should be spending much more money on helping people with mental illness*

 People who become mentally ill are not failures in life*

 We need to support and care for people who become mentally ill*

 Under certain circumstances, anyone can experience mental illness*

 People who are mentally ill need to be controlled by any means necessary

 Those who have serious mental illness should not be allowed to have children

 People who are mentally ill should be forced to have treatment

 People who are mentally ill should be free to make their own decisions*

 People who are mentally ill should be allowed to live their life any way they want*

 Society does not have a right to limit the freedom of people with mental illness*

 The behaviour of people with mental illness is unpredictable

 People with mental illness often do unexpected things

 In general, you cannot predict how people with mental illness will behave

 The behaviour of people with mental illness is just as predictable as that of people who are mentally healthy*

 People with mental illness behave in ways that are foreseeable*

 I usually find people with mental illness to be consistent in their behaviour*