INTERABILITY COMMUNICATION - EVALUATING PATRONIZING ENCOUNTERS

This investigation is af rst empirical attempt, using an intergroup pe rspective, to socially evaluate patronizing speech in encounters invol ving people with and without disabilities. Respondents read a vignette involving a person with a disability being either patronized or not b eing patronized and then made attributions and evaluations about the c onversational interactants. As predicted, results revealed that recipi ents and third party interactants of patronizing speech were rated as feeling less supported and less comfortable than when involved in a no npatronizing encounter. In addition, the patronizer was rated as more incompetent, insensitive, and unsocial in the former than in the latte r condition. These and many other findings were interpreted within a f ramework that included social identity, intergroup contact, and commun ication accommodation theories.