Disability or disabilities: construction of a specific model of stereotypes

Abstract

Abstract INTRODUCTION- Disability is associated with stereotypes that are detrimental in a work context and may explained disabled difficulties to find and keep a job. OBJECTIVE- This paper’s aim is to posit and test a model of judgment about disabled people that enhanced classical two-dimensional models (Abele & Wojciszke, 2007; Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002)investigating specific stereotypes about disability. METHODS- Workers (N= 397) had to evaluate a disabled person presented in a hypothetical vignette on 21 stereotypes generally associated with disability. The disability disclosed in the vignette variates between experimental conditions (i.e. depression, HIV, obesity, hearing problems, chronic low back pain, and dyslexia). RESULTS- An exploratory factor analysis based on the 21 stereotypes revealed a three-dimensional model (i.e. warmth, competence, and contextual performance). When exploring differences between disabilities, depression was systematically perceived more negatively than the other disabilities tested. CONCLUSIONS- In addition to competence and warmth dimensions, stereotypes about disabled people articulates on a third dimension: contextual performance. This specific preoccupation about disabled workers is important to consider when trying to understand recruiters’ reluctance when hiring a disabled person. Moreover, this study showed that depression is particularly discriminate even when compared to other stereotyped disabilities.