Keywords
physical disability
society’s opinions about disability
people with different kinds of disability
How to Cite
Abstract
Difficulties resulting from the social perception of people with disabilities, and the personal assessment of their own disability are important for her/his relationship with other people. Therefore, it is worth asking what the perceptions are, of those who experience psychosocial effects due to their physical disability, towards people with intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments, visual impairments, mental illnesses, as well as their own physically disabled group. To analyse the perception of people with a physical disability, the study explores three areas: the acceptance or rejection of society’s stigmatization towards persons with disabilities; integrative versus separative social orientations of people with physical disability; social preferences of people with physical disability regarding other disabled people. The research sample consisted of 75 people with physical disabilities, who suffer from damage to the locomotor system. The data was collected using a questionnaire The findings highlight that the response from those who were physically disabled agreed with the opinions of general society, not only with the issue of promoting integrated solutions and offering assistance, but also having the same preferences and opinions about specific types of disability. However, their perception regarding their own group was noticeably different from that of general society.
References
Chubon R., An analysis of research dealing with the attitudes of professionals toward disability. Journal of Rehabilitation, 1982, 48(1), pp. 25–30.
Deal M., Disabled people’s attitudes toward other impairment groups: a hierarchy of impairments, 2010, Disability & Society, Vol. 18, No. 7, December 2003, pp. 897–910.
Gething L., Generality vs. specificity of attitudes towards people with disabilities, British Journal of Medical Psychology, 1991, 64, pp. 55–64
Goffman E., Stigma: Notes on Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 1963.
Hosod M., Stone-Romero E., Coats G., The effects of physical attractiveness on jobrelated outcomes: a meta-analysis of experimental studies. Personnel Psychology, 2006, Vol. 56, Issue 2, 431–462.
MacLaughlin M.E., Bell M.P., Stringer D.Y., Stigma and Acceptance of Persons With Disabilities. Group & Organization Management, 2004, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 302–333
Meeres S.L., Grant P.R., Enhancing collective and personal self-esteem through differentiation: further exploration of Hinkle & Brown’s taxonomy, British Journal of Social Psychology, 1999, 38, pp. 21–34.
Ostrowska A., Badania nad niepełnosprawnością̨ w Polsce [Research on disability in Poland], Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii PAN, Warszawa 1994.
Ostrowska A., Niepełnosprawni w społeczeństwie 1993–2013 [Disabled people in society 1993–2013], Wydawnictwo IFiS PAN, Warszawa 2015.
Schilder P., The Image and Appearance of the Human Body. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, London 1935.
Shears L.M., Jensema C.J., Social acceptability of anomalous persons, “Exceptional Children” 1969, vol. 36, pp. 91–96.
Umberson D., Hughes M., The Impact of Physical Attractiveness on Achievement and Psychological Well-Being, Social Psychology Quarterly, 1987, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 227–236.
Watson K., Well, I Know this is Going to Sound Very Strange to You, but I Don’t See Myself as a Disabled Person: Identity and disability, 2002, Disability & Society, Volume 17(5), pp. 509–527.
Westbrook M.T., Legge V., Pennay M., Attitudes towards disabilities in a multicultural society, Social Science & Medicine, 1993, 36(5), pp. 615–623.
Wright B.A., Developing constructive views of life with a disability. Rehabilitation Literature, 1980, 41(11–12), pp. 274–279.