Components of perceived stigma and perceptions of well-being among university students with and without disability experience

Abstract

This study examines the impact of self-identified disability experience on specific aspects of perceived stigma and their consequences. University students with disabilities, close family members of individuals with disabilities, those with regular occupational or social contact with individuals with disabilities, and others with no experience with disability, are compared by means of multivariate analyses of survey data. Results suggest that individuals with disabilities are expected, both by students with and without disability experience, to face social awkwardness and discomfort from others in the community, but are not generally expected to be devalued by others because of their disabilities. Having a disability, however, increases the perception that individuals with disabilities are devalued, and decreases perceived emotional well-being. Findings support the complexity and multi-dimensionality of the relationship between stigma and the disability experience, and suggest that stigma as a uni-dimensional construct is far too broad.

Key Words:

• disability
• sociology
• stigma
• well-being
• labelling