The Effects of Symptom Recognition and Diagnostic Labels on Public Beliefs, Emotional Reactions, and Stigmas Associated with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

Labels are firmly rejected by the disability rights movement, yet the complex effects of labeling on lay beliefs are poorly understood. This study examined the effects of labeling on the general public's reactions to people with intellectual disabilities. A sample of 1,233 adult members of the UK general population were randomly presented with either a diagnostically labeled or unlabeled case vignette, and their emotional reactions, causal beliefs, and social distance were assessed. Providing a label reduced social distance, increased biomedical attributions, and had a small positive direct effect on emotional reactions. Making a diagnosis of mild intellectual disability known may prevent misattribution to more stigmatizing causes and thus reduce social distance. Some undesirable effects were observed though on causal beliefs and associated emotional reactions.

An examination of perceptions of individuals with an intellectual disability, with and without co‐morbid schizophrenia: effects of labels on stigma

“…Future studies would benefit from adding measures to assess participants' emotional reactions, decision‐making tactics, (Angermeyer & Matschinger ; Scior et al . ; Warman et al . ), and media influence.…”

“…Participants were presented with one of six modified vignettes from the Intellectual Disability Literacy Scale (Scior & Furnham ) similar to those used by Scior et al . (), which were validated by experts as meeting criteria for their respective disorders according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , Fourth Edition , Text Revision (American Psychiatric Association ). The vignettes were modified to be better understood by the participants as they may not understand British terms.…”

“…Like the labelled and unlabelled vignettes used in Scior et al . (), the vignettes either did not provide a diagnostic label for the target or provided the diagnostic label(s) at the beginning of the vignette.…”

“…Research has found individuals with ID are viewed as highly undesirable to interact with socially (Scior ), although interestingly the actual label of ‘intellectual disability’ has shown inconsistent relationships with stigma (Scior et al . ; Scior et al . ).…”

“…This is based upon previous research that found that participants given labelled vignettes of an ID reported less social distance compared to an unlabelled vignette (Scior, Addai‐Davis, Kenyon, & Sheridan ; Scior et al . ; Scior et al . ).…”