Acquired disability is perceived as less essentialized but more blameworthy. For acquired disability, only blame (not essentialism) predicted stigma.

State University of New York at Binghamton

- Congenital Disabilities
- Acquired Disabilities
- Role of Familiarity

Perceptions of Essentialism and Blame Based on Onset

Bogart, K. R., Rosa, N. M., & Slepian, M. L. (2018). Born that way or became that way: Stigma toward congenital versus acquired disability. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 22(4), 594-612. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430218757897 (Original work published 2019)

Reference: Stigma Towards Congenital Versus Acquired Disability

Congenital disability is perceived as more essentialized (i.e., having an underlying nature, being genetically determined, permanent, and informative) but less blameworthy. For congenital disability, essentialism was negatively correlated with blame. Both essentialism and blame independently predicted stigma for congenital disability.

Essentialism and Blame: Congenital Disabilities

Essentialism and Blame: Acquired Disabilities

The authors found that participants were actually more familiar with congenital disabilities, yet still stigmatized them more, suggesting familiarity was not the driving factor.

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