Helping the Handicapped: How Realistic is the Performance Feedback Received by the Physically Handicapped

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Abstract
In an attempt to demonstrate that handicapped individuals tend to receive inaccurate feedback, a situation was created in which able-bodied subjects were asked to administer performance feedback to a confederate, presented either as handicapped or able-bodied. The confederate's performance followed a predetermined script intended to be perceived as a below-average performance. Analysis of the data showed that feedback to the able-bodied confederate was significantly different from that administered to handicapped confederates. An internal analysis of the data revealed that the difference in feedback was not because subjects expected the handicapped confederate to perform less well than the able-bodied. It was concluded that the "norm-to-be-kind" hypothesis was supported by the data.