Physical stigma and academic performance as factors affecting children's first impressions of handicapped peers

The effects of four variables on attitudes toward children were studied: the sex and social status of the rater and the physical appearance and academic competence of the target child being rated. The results indicated that competent and physically nonstigmatized children were rated more favorably than incompetent and physically stigmatized children. The data also revealed that girls had a significantly more positive stereotype than did boys of a competent male target child but that boys were more willing to be in physical proximity to the male target child as measured by a social-distance scale. Finally, the results indicated that popular children rated the attractive and competent target child less favorably than children who were not so popular. However, the popular children rated the attractive and incompetent target child more favorably than the less popular children did. The findings were discussed in terms of the salience of physical labels (i.e., stigma) on attitudes toward children.