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.

This study examines the phenomenon of cognitive polyphasia in the representation of mentally ill people by religious groups of society. The aim of the study was the manifestation of cognitive polyphasia in the structure of social representations (SP) about mental illness in groups of Orthodox Christians and Muslims. The sample consisted of Muslims – N = 111 (men – 53, women – 58 people) and Orthodox Christians – N = 114 (men – 49 people, women – 65 people) living in Moscow. The following methods were used: the author's questionnaire, which included 29 statements, the modified scale of D. Feldes' “Psychological distanceˮ, the modified method “Incomplete sentencesˮ, the method “Bubblesˮ. The inconsistency of the SP regarding mental illness is revealed when analyzing the responses of the author's questionnaire aimed at identifying the content of the JV: the core of the representations in both groups of respondents contained sympathetic statements, but the results of the projective techniques “Incomplete Sentencesˮ, “Bubblesˮ demonstrate the predominance of negatively colored elements (fear of infection, aggressive actions of suicide of patients, unpredictability and inadequacy of behavior). Thus, there is reason to assert that the SP about mentally ill people is distinguished by cognitive polyphasia, i. e., the coexistence of modern knowledge about mental illness with archaic images of the disease.