While psychological theories have long linked prejudice and psychopathology, research findings have been weak and inconsistent. Three possible reasons for this were remedied in this study: social desirability was controlled, the participants (N = 110; South African adults) had clinically diagnosable psychopathology, and a validated multidimensional measure of psychopathology, the MMCI-II, was used. Analyses of the Millon personality and symptom scales, and principal component factors derived from each set, with measures of authoritarian attitudes and anti-Black prejudice indicated two significant paths linking psychopathology and prejudice. First, a Compulsive-Dependent personality factor was significantly related to authoritarian attitudes, which mediated an indirect effect of this personality disorder on prejudice. Second, a Negative Affectivity symptom factor was directly associated with prejudice, and also mediated indirect effects of an Avoidant-Negativistic personality factor on prejudice. The findings are discussed in terms of authoritarian personality theory and theories linking symptoms of psychopathology and prejudice.
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