A Socially Desirable Response to the Politically Incorrect Use of Disability Labels
Investigated the effect of violating politically correct label protocol in a counselor-profession relationship. 75 practicing rehabilitation counselors, students of rehabilitation counseling, and administrators of rehabilitation counseling agencies were randomly assigned to complete a survey of attitudes toward people with disabilities that used either politically correct or politically incorrect labels. Results indicate that Ss responding to the politically incorrect survey expressed more positive attitudes (i.e., more similarity to people without disabilities) than did Ss responding to the politically correct attitude survey. Political correctness may be a potential source of bias in professional responses to direct measures of attitude.