Physical attractiveness and attributions for disability.

80 undergraduates viewed stimulus slides of an unattractive or attractive female or an unattractive or attractive male who had allegedly become paraplegic as a result of an automobile accident. Ss then completed a questionnaire assessing the potential causes of the accident, prognosis for the victim's disability, and the victim's level of responsibility for the accident. Results demonstrate that the unattractive victims were perceived as having more permanent disabilities and needing longer rehabilitation periods than the attractive victims. Ss made different attributions of the injury and assigned more personal responsibility to the physically attractive victims. Findings are discussed within the context of the "just world" hypothesis proposed by M. Lerner et al (1976). (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Client attributions for disability: Perceived accuracy, adjustment, and coping.

Examined the effects of client attributions regarding a responsibility for the cause of their own disability on the perceptions of 90 rehabilitation graduate students toward clients' adjustment, coping, and rehabilitation prognosis. Ss reviewed the vocational evaluation report and resume of a client; disability and attribution of responsibility for the cause of the client's disability were systematically manipulated in the report. Perceived accuracy of the attribution and predicted disability adjustment/coping were a function of the interaction between disability type and client's expressed attribution. Adjustment/coping and projected rehabilitation prognosis were positively related to the perceived accuracy of the attribution. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)