title: Disability and autonomy: priming alternative identities.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite the broad stigmatization that people with disabilities experience, the ways they respond as targets of prejudice have received little attention in the psychological literature. The present study examined the reactions of college students with disabilities to being primed with different aspects of their identity and how individual differences in stigma consciousness moderate this effect.
  
  
  METHODS
  After being primed with their identity as a person with a disability or a student, college students with disabilities (n = 116) completed measures of autonomy-related thoughts, help-seeking, and stigma consciousness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Students primed with their disability status activated autonomy-related thoughts less than the participants primed with their student identity. Moreover, as predicted, the priming manipulation had a stronger impact for participants higher in stigma consciousness. Across all participants, greater activation of autonomy-related thoughts was associated with a lower likelihood of seeking help.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depending on the aspect of their identity that is most salient in a given context and their level of stigma consciousness, people with disabilities can access autonomy-related thoughts to a greater or lesser extent. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticutt 06520-8205, USA. katie.wang@yale.edu
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Dovidio
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D003469:Culture; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011287:Prejudice; D012649:Self Concept; D012660:Semantics; D012718:Set, Psychology; D057545:Social Stigma; D013240:Stereotyping; D055815:Young Adult