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The crisis under consideration was the 1970 kidnapping of 2 Canadian officials by a militant French Canadian organization, the subsequent action of the Canadian government of placing the country under martial law, & the militant group's reaction which was to assassinate 1 of their captives. To determine effects on public opinion of this crisis, a survey was immediately undertaken before any formal government action was taken, among the English Canadian citizens of London, Ontario. People in the same areas were interviewed again when the situation became a formal crisis. Similar questionnaires were given to a sample of students at the U of Western Ontario, who had also been previously tested (10 months earlier) concerning their attitudes & stereotypes toward French Canadians. 3 more samples of both groups were tested during the following months, with an additional final questionnaire administered to the students 10 months after the crisis. Results show that for both samples support for the government & the measures it used in dealing with the crisis reached its highest levels at the height of the crisis, but dropped back to precrisis levels in the final survey. Ethnic reaction data from the student sample show that 10 months after the crisis, ethnic responses had generally returned to the precrisis levels. There were short-term effects of the crisis, but no permanent change in attitudes toward French Canadians. Thus evidence suggests that a major crisis event may have no lasting effects on public opinion, & that opinions given during a crisis may not reflect the R's' actual opinions or underlying attitudes. 2 Tables H. Dorian.

Culture and Social Behavior covers a range of topics from differences in basic cognitive processes to broad level cultural syndromes that pervade social arrangements, laws, and public representations. Leading researchers in the study of culture an

Background: Social psychological research suggests that prediction of behavioural intentions towards those with mental illness could be increased by assessing attitudes towards specific actions or behaviours and by including a measure of perceived normative expectations by others concerning such behaviours. Aims: To investigate whether attitudes towards specific behaviours and perceived normative expectations improve prediction of behavioural intentions towards a person with mental illness. Methods: Two studies were carried out; one with university undergraduates and one with community service club members. Each included assessments of attitudes towards a person described as having a mental illness; attitudes towards specific behaviours reflecting social distance; perceived descriptive and injunctive norms with reference to those behaviours; and behavioural intentions. Results: Attitude towards the specifi c behaviour frequently showed a higher correlation with behavioural intentions than did attitude towards the person. Inclusion of perceived norms also improved prediction of behavioural intention. Conclusions: The prediction of behavioural intentions towards those with mental illness may be improved by increasing the specificity of the attitude measures to the behavioural intentions being predicted and including measures of perceived norms. Furthermore, the effectiveness of efforts to reduce the stigma of mental illness may be increased by addressing their impact on perceived norms.