Effects of the label "mentally retarded" on causal explanations for success and failure outcomes.
Previous research has been inconclusive in demonstrating the effects of the label "mentally retarded" on the reactions and evaluations of others toward the labeled person. The present study derived predictions from attribution theory regarding the effects of the label on the perceptions of observers. Specifically, we hypothesized that the presence of the label would reduce the likelihood that observers would credit successful task outcomes to the labeled person's ability but enhance the likelihood that observers would credit unsuccessful task outcomes to the labeled person's ability. Such effects were not anticipated in the absence of the label. A factorial design varying Labels (mentally retarded us. no label), Task Outcomes (success v. failure), and Sex of Target Person was employed. Dependent variables measured observers' assessments of the causes of the target person's outcomes. The results strongly confirmed the hypothesis by showing that ability, effort, and task difficulty are all perceived differently for labeled than for nonlabeled target persons. The results were discussed in terms of implications for future research and proper use of the label "mentally retarded."
D000124:Achievement; D001076:Aptitude; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011336:Probability; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis