Effects of the institutional label on peer assessments of institutionalized EMR persons

The "group concept" of EMR persons was examined in a study in which a sample of institutionalized male and female subjects evaluated a target person either labeled as institutionalized or not labeled. Contrary to expectations, the institutionalized person was rated as favorably as the noninstitutionalized person on all of the adjective traits (e.g., "friendly"); however, all subjects showed a preference for the noninstitutionalized person on two social-distance items ("live near" and "work with"). In addition, when asked in a series of questions to compare an institutionalized and a noninstitutionalized target person, male subjects preferred the noninstitutionalized person. Results were discussed in terms of subjects' reactions to the institutional label.