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A semantic differential investigation of children's attitudes toward three stigmatized groups
Author(s) -
Wilkins Joan E.,
Velicher Wayne F.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6807(198007)17:3<364::aid-pits2310170315>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - semantic differential , mentally retarded , psychology , mentally ill , developmental psychology , scale (ratio) , test (biology) , clinical psychology , mental illness , psychiatry , mental health , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
To test the assumption that negative attitudes toward various stigmatized groups are learned in early childhood, four scales of the semantic differential were employed to assess children's attitudes toward four groups (normals, crippled, retarded, and mentally ill) for both male and female third and sixth graders. The mentally ill were rated most negatively on both the Evaluation Scale and the Understandability Scale, but were rated comparable to normal people on Activity and Potency. Both the retarded and the crippled were rated less positively than normals on the Evaluation Scale, but not as negatively as the mentally ill. The retarded and the crippled were rated less Active and Potent than both normals and the mentally ill. No differences were found between the third and sixth graders on attitudes toward the three stigmatized groups. Implications for the “social labeling” theory of mental disorders are discussed.