The social identity approach to disability: Bridging disability studies and psychological science.

Abstract

Although mainstream psychology has received numerous critiques for its traditional approaches to disability-related research, proposals for alternative theory that can encompass the social, cultural, political, and historical features of disability are lacking. The social identity approach (SIA) offers a rich framework from which to ask research questions about the experience of disability in accordance with the critical insights found in disability studies (DS), the source for many of the most compelling critiques of disability psychology research. We review existing research considering the complementary social identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and self-categorization (Turner, Hogg, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987) theories to support our contention that the disability social category is a significant driving force in the psychological experience of disability and to demonstrate the theoretical utility of the SIA. We suggest that a bridge between the critical epistemological perspectives found in disability studies and the methodological rigor and theoretical breadth and parsimony of a social identity approach is essential for examining the social psychological experience of disability in the 21st century. To conclude we explore the emergent possibilities for research in psychological science that can follow from a social identity approach to disability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Demographic, Experiential, and Temporal Variation in Ableism

“…In that case, our results may indicate that people who identify more strongly as persons with disabilities are less likely to hold negative feelings toward that group. This interpretation is consistent with the Dirth and Branscombe's () argument that disability identification is a mechanism for coping with stigma and is related to behaviors such as emphasizing positive characteristics associated with the disability community and rejecting the idea that disability status is inferior to able‐bodied status.…”

“…Characteristics of a disability (e.g., how much it interferes with daily life or whether it is a more “invisible” disability) likely affect how individuals with disabilities view themselves, their disabilities, and the larger community of PWD (e.g., Bedini, ; Uppal, ). In particular, people who “identify” as having a disability—a subset forming only 28% of people who could be classified as having disabilities (Chalk, )—may have more positive attitudes toward PWD (Dirth & Branscombe, ). This implies that experiences that make an individual more likely to identify as a person with a disability may be associated with lower prejudice against PWD.…”

Recognizing Ableism: A Social Identity Analysis of Disabled People Perceiving Discrimination as Illegitimate

“…We set out to address this ongoing act of resistance—the recognition and delegitimization of negative group‐based differential treatment—that PWD deploy every day. In contrast to traditional approaches to disability in psychological science that consider disability‐related issues at an individual level of analysis, we consider the social identity approach to disability (Dirth & Branscombe, ), empirically addressing the intergroup social psychological processes that are involved in challenging the legitimacy of institutionalized discrimination against people with disabilities. The primary objectives of this set of studies was to examine factors underlying disabled persons’ perceptions of discrimination legitimacy and identify a way to shift the perception of discrimination as unambiguously unacceptable.…”

Decolonial theory and disability studies: On the modernity/coloniality of ability

“…The conceptual move toward collective identity can be counter-intuitive for many disabled people given sociocultural barriers of geographic isolation v and societal stigmatization that push people to disavow disability category membership (Dirth & Branscombe, 2018). An important resource to counteract barriers to imagination of disability community is the production and expression of disability culture (Barnes & Mercer, 2001;Peters, 2000;Pfeiffer, 2015).…”

“…Beyond its implications for individual health, disability social identity constitutes a source of empowerment for people across disparate impairments to seek social and political change from a common identity position (Fleischer et al, 2012). This mobilization of solidarity across impairment-type is tangible in the political gains of the disability (Simon & Klandermans, 2001) that provides resources for contesting discriminatory treatment, perceiving alternative futures to the status quo of inequality, and working toward social change on behalf of disabled people (Dirth & Branscombe, 2018;Jetten, Iyer, Branscombe, & Zhang, 2013;Nario-Redmond & Oleson, 2016;Tajfel & Turner, 1979).…”