Exploring the impact of supercrip portrayal in TV drama: assessing attitude shifts toward people with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability

Abstract

Media’s influence on societal views of disability remains an area of developing understanding. This study scrutinizes how ‘supercrip’ narratives in TV dramas—depictions of individuals with disabilities exhibiting superpowers or conquering challenges—affect public attitudes. Using two different ‘supercrip’ examples and a control, the study explores multidimensional attitude shifts toward individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Intellectual Disability (ID) following exposure to ‘supercrip’ portrayals in fiction alongside a control stimulus. While realistic disability narratives did not significantly alter attitudes, responses varied with the disability type. Unrealistic portrayals, though eliciting mixed reactions, notably increased engagement and awareness of disability issues. The study indicates that increased viewer engagement and awareness could lead to nuanced, long-term attitude shifts. Notably, more authentic portrayals of ID did not markedly change attitudes toward ID but influenced cognitive attitudes toward ASD, underlining the complexity of audience responses. Positive disability representations in media can catalyze cognitive attitude shifts, but their broader impact on societal attitudes remains partially understood. This highlights the potential of media portrayals to foster attitude changes through sustained exposure, emphasizing the importance of diverse and thoughtful representations in media.

Keywords:

• Media representation of disability
• supercrip
• multidimensional attitude scale
• autism spectrum disorder
• intellectual disability

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available within the article and on request from the corresponding author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The necessary number of participants for this study was determined using G*Power 3.1.9.4 (Faul et al. 2007). For ANOVA, a minimum sample size of 66 was calculated based on an alpha of 0.05, an effect size of 0.40, and a power of 0.80. For the t-test, a minimum sample size of 26 was required, calculated with the same alpha of 0.05, an effect size of 0.50, and a power of 0.80. Consequently, the sample size of our study, totaling 96 participants (34, 32, and 30 for each group respectively), possesses adequate statistical power.

2 ‘Extraordinary Attorney Woo’ and ‘Our Blues’ were among the top 10 dramas of 2020, with peak viewership ratings of 17.5% and 14.6%, respectively, as per Nielsen Korea (eToday 2022). Their prominence during their airing periods and the accolade of ‘Content that Changed the World’ by the Korean Cultural Content Critics Association Awards in 2022 highlight their significant public and critical acclaim (Munhwa Ilbo 2022).

3 Although this Cronbach’s alpha is slightly lower, notably, for the post-test, the coefficient increased to 0.731, indicating an acceptable level of internal consistency across the study.