Children’s Reactions to Physical Disability: A Cross-national and Developmental Study

Abstract

This study examined reactions to physical disability among 5th and 11th graders in the United States and Japan. Students were presented with a drawing of four children standing next to a child in a wheelchair, and told that this group was going swimming. Students were asked to describe and explain their feelings, first, as the disabled person, and then as a nondisabled group member. Although cultural differences in specific response categories were found in both hypothetical roles, on the whole, Japanese and American children appeared to be more similar than different in their reactions to physical disability. Patterns of developmental differences, however, varied by culture. Japanese adolescents were more likely than their younger peers to worry about imposing on others in the disabled role, whereas Japanese 5th graders were more likely than 11th graders to make empathic responses in the interactant role. In addition, there was a tendency for more American 11th than 5th graders to express embarrassment in the disabled role. Findings are discussed in terms of Goffman’s (1963) model of “stigma”, the individualism-collectivism paradigm, and theories of cognitive development.