ORTHOPEDIC DISABILITY, CONFORMITY, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT

The relation between physical disability, social support, and conformi st behavior was tested in two studies. The first compared the conformi ng responses of persons who had orthopedic disabilities with those of able-bodied individuals and correlated perceived social support of tho se with the disability with their tendency to conform. The second was an experimental study in which university students made choices betwee n actors who had disabilities and actors who were able bodied; orthope dic disability was signified by a person sitting in a wheelchair and s ocial support by the choice of a teammate. Results showed that persons with disabilities (compared with those who were able bodied) reported a significantly higher tendency to conform and that this tendency was negatively related to reported levels of perceived social support. In the experimental study, conforming behaviors of both disabled and abl e-bodied actors elicited more social support than did assertive behavi ors. The actors who had ''disabilities'' received less social support than those who were ''able bodied'' but the former were considered mor e original when they did not conform. The findings imply that individu als with orthopedic disabilities are expected to conform but, although their conforming behavior elicits social support within specific enco unters, it does not affect overall social support across encounters.