Interability Contact and the Reduction of Interability Prejudice: Communication Accommodation, Intergroup Anxiety, and Relational Solidarity

Abstract

Guided by intergroup contact and communication accommodation theories, this study tested the effects of U.S. participants’ (N = 286) communication with their most frequent contact who had a visible physical disability and its effects on attitudes toward and stereotypes of people with disabilities as a whole. As predicted, mediation analysis showed the type of interability contact (i.e., nonfamily = 1 and family = 2), and participants’ perceptions of their own communication accommodation during interability interactions with the contact had significant indirect effects on the improvement of attitudes toward and reduction of stereotypes about people with disabilities through relational solidarity and intergroup anxiety as sequential mediators. In addition, communication accommodation had significant positive direct effects on intergroup attitudes. These findings provide insights into the important role played by interability contact, especially in the family context and communication accommodation in developing positive relationships in order to reduce anxiety, prejudices, and biases toward people with disabilities.