Race and sex as variables affecting reactions to disability

Several aspects of reaction to disability were compared across samples of rehabilitation patients which differed in race and sex. Subjects included 28 black men, 14 white men, 19 black women, and 19 white women who had a range of different disabilities and who were patients at a large public hospital and a small rehabilitation center in a southeastern metropolis. Losses attributed to disability were found to vary for men and women, except that inability to work was missed most by all subjects. Only black men emphasized themselves, their jobs, and other persons as reasons for their disability. All subjects were most likely to cite mystical causes for their disability and to believe that mystical sources would most help them to improve.