LESSON#1: STEREOTYPES AND PERCEPTIONS
As mentioned in the Introduction, employers may hold preconceived perceptions regarding the skills and contributions that individuals with disabilities can make to their businesses. This first lesson will:
- Help you identify your personal perceptions about disability and stereotypes,
- Dispel disability-related myths and stereotypes, and
- Help you to recognize the contributions, accomplishments, and overall value of people with disabilities as employees.
Initial Thoughts: Thinking About Stereotypes
Stereotypes are the assumptions we make about an individual or a group of people based on our prior personal experiences, the media (i.e., television, internet, newspapers, and magazines), and/or the influence of friends and family. We are often unaware of our stereotypical views of people and how our views become judgments that affect our interactions with people.
In Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink
, he describes the power of first impressions. You may remember the Pepsi Challenge when people were randomly chosen to participate in a taste-test comparing Pepsi and Coke. In this experiment, taste testers chose their favorite after a few sips and based on first impressions, Pepsi was the favorite. In response to the Pepsi Challenge, Coke revised their formula and New Coke was born, which turned out to be a costly business mistake. The behind the scenes story of the Pepsi Challenge was that when taste testers were asked to choose either Pepsi or Coke after drinking more than just a few sips, Coke was their favorite. This is an example of how first impressions can be flawed.
Similar to taste tests, when we meet someone for the first time, or even see a picture of someone, we have a first impression and make conclusions about the individual. How accurate are your first impressions? Based on a photo of someone, can you guess the person's occupation or if the person has a college degree or not?
Activity: First Impressions
Let's test your first impressions.
This is Mark. Can you guess what his occupation is?
Did you answer correctly? What influenced your answer? Was there something about Mark's image in the photo that gave you a hint or was misleading? Did Mark's picture remind you of someone you know and thus influence your answer?
This is Joe. Do you think he has a college degree?
Likewise with Joe, how did his photo influence your answer? Did the hunting attire help or hinder your ability to answer correctly? Do you know someone who enjoys hunting and did this picture remind you of that person? Did your beliefs about hunting influence your answer? If someone had negative views about hunting, would his/her attitude influence his/her perception of Joe?
Based on our personal experiences, knowledge, and relationships, we make judgments about people. In the above activity, you were asked you about your first impressions based on a photo. You were asked to think about how your belief systems and personal relationships influenced your impressions. Often these belief systems generalize to entire categories of people (i.e. people with disabilities). A positive judgment about a group of people increases the likelihood of acceptance for an individual member of that group. Likewise, a negative judgment can increase the likelihood of rejection or exclusion.
Activity: Stereotypes About People With Disabilities
Let's explore your perceptions of people with disabilities. In your opinion, which of the following words or phrases describe people with disabilities?
|
Courageous Needs protecting Fragile Unhealthy Live in nursing homes Few work skills Dependent on others |
How many of the 7 words or phrases did you choose as descriptors of people with disabilities? Actually, none of the descriptors can be used to describe all people with disabilities. Also, these words can describe both people with and without disabilities. Generalizing is the danger with stereotypes. We combine characteristics of individual people to make conclusions about groups of people.
We develop stereotypes when we are unable, or unwilling, to obtain all of the information we need to make fair judgments about people or situations. Our society often unknowingly creates and perpetuates negative stereotypes, which often lead to unfair discrimination.
People tend to stereotype when they lack personal relationships or significant experiences with certain groups of people and make uninformed assumptions based on limited information. For example, many of us have had little contact with people with disabilities and consequently, we may believe what we see on TV or hear from others. Also, without personal exposure to people with disabilities, we never develop relationships and friendships or learn how to comfortably interact with them. Because of our discomfort, many of us may avoid people with disabilities, which increases their isolation further.
Activity: More About Travis:
"Hi, it's Travis here again. I would like to do an exercise with you to see if you can guess what my life is like. You've had the chance to think about your personal views and biases. We began this journey discussing your personal views about individual people and first impressions. We then talked about stereotypes of groups of people, and in particular, people with disabilities. As we end this self-reflection section of the module, I have one more activity for you. Can you guess what my life is like? As you can see from my picture, I have a disability. Click on the following questions and make your best guess about my life in the areas of my personal relationships, my work life and my home life. After you are done I will explain a little more about myself and my life in a short video clip."
Pick from the choices in each area below:
Relationships:
Employment:
Home:
Watch the video below to hear Travis talk about his life.
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This training was made possible through a grant from the Missouri Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities (www.mpcdd.com) and developed by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Institute for Human Development (www.ihd.umkc.edu)