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.

“It opened up a whole new world for me”: Experiences of military commanders in employing individuals with intellectual disabilities

“…Although such help is of great importance, the possible negative implications of pity toward individuals with disabilities should be taken into account. Pity has been found to cause “benevolence stigma,” when people are kind to others mainly because they consider them to be unfortunate and to have lower abilities then themselves (Corrigan, Edwards, Green, Ddiwan, & Penn, ; Fominaya, Corrigan, & Rüsch, ; Kamenetsky, Dimakos, Aslemand, Saleh, & Ali‐Mohammed, ). Pity may stem from paternalism and may have a negative effect on individuals with disabilities, including lower empowerment and self‐esteem (Fominaya et al, ).…”

“I’m not being rude, I’d want somebody normal”: Adolescents’ Perception of their Peers with Tourette’s Syndrome: an Exploratory Study

“…Recent studies suggest that helping behaviour is not necessarily contingent to stereotypical depictions that elicit pity (Kamenetsky et al 2016). Social inclusion can be achieved by communicating images of individuals with TS that are more congruent with typically developing peers’ self-image.…”

Does Language Type Affect Perceptions of Disability Images? An Experimental Study

“…However, since men are expected to be strong and self-sufficient, if they are not seen as able to fulfil masculine sex-roles prevalent in most cultures, it is possible that they may be subject to more negative evaluations than women. Indeed, Kamenetsky et al (2016) found that images (without text captions) of men with disabilities elicited greater sadness, anger, disgust, guilt and lower perceptions of capabilities and rights but also, and perhaps consequently, a greater willingness to help.…”

“…Broadly speaking, these may include identification with individuals depicted, emotional reactions to the images, willingness to help and include such individuals, perceptions of their capabilities, as well as whether they are entitled to the same rights accorded to the rest of society. The literature on these constructs has recently been reviewed by Kamenetsky et al (2016). The following section presents a brief summary.…”

“…Research has documented that less favourable perceptions of equal rights prevailed when persons with disabilities received inequitable treatment in education and public services (O'Keeffe, 1993). However, Kamenetsky et al (2016) provided clear evidence that this may be changing as Canadian first year university students provided very high ratings of equal rights for a broad range of images of PWDs.…”