title: Eliciting Help Without Pity: The Effect of Changing Media Images on Perceptions of Disability.
abstract: This study investigated whether newer, more positive disability charity images can elicit helping behavior without producing pity. One hundred sixty-one university undergraduate students were presented with 35 older (1960-1990) and newer (1991-2010) disability charity images and completed a questionnaire about each image. Results indicate that overall, identification with depicted individuals was low; positive attitudes and perceptions of capabilities were moderate to high. Newer images led to more positive responses, but no significant difference in willingness to help. Eliciting pity through negative depictions of disability appears not to be a necessary precondition for eliciting helping behavior toward people with disabilities.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Toronto Mississauga , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Stuart B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kamenetsky
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Toronto Mississauga , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dimakos
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Toronto Mississauga , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Asal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aslemand
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Toronto Mississauga , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Amani
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , University of Toronto Mississauga , Ontario , Canada.
authors.forename: Saamiyah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali-Mohammed
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002608:Charities; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D007062:Identification, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D010465:Perception; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attitudes; charity images; disability rights; emotions; helping behavior; media; perceptions; pity