Presidential address: Social psychology of difference: Stigma, spread, and stereotypes in childhood.

Abstract

This article reviews how children may conceptualize and think about peers with visible physical differences, discusses the development of stereotypes about physical disability, and summarizes research conducted by the author and his colleagues on this process of children's perception of physical differences. Research findings from several cultures are presented and discussed. In 1983, my colleagues and I began a series of studies exploring nondisabled children's views and social preferences toward peers with visible physical differences of the body. More than 1,000 children in six countries have been interviewed in the course of these studies since their inception (Harper, 1995). This prospective, longitudinal series of studies has focused on children's views of physical differences and was based on the methodology of Stephen Richardson (1976) and colleagues. The methodology consists of a controlled interview technique using a standard set of line drawings of children differing only with respect to specific physical disability characteristics. Children are asked to rank their social preferences (e.g., who they like best). Values and attitudes are inferred from this task, and subsequent preference rankings by groups of children are identified. This article briefly reviews how children may conceptualize and think about physical differences, discusses the development of stereotypes about physical disability, and summarizes our key research findings on this process of children's perception of physical differences. Preliminary definitions and introducDennis C. Harper, College of Medicine, University of Iowa. An earlier version of this article was presented as a presidential address (Division of Rehabilitation Psychology) in memory of Harold Yuker at the 106th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, August 1998, San Francisco. California. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dennis C. Harper, PhD, ABPP, College of Medicine, Universi ty Hospital School, Office 341, 100 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1011. Electronic mail may be sent to dennis-harper@uiowa.edu.