Public stigma in intellectual disability: do direct versus indirect questions make a difference?
Indirect survey items reveal darker public attitudes toward ID than direct questions—use them to size up stigma before you plan any fix.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked 330 Israeli adults two sets of questions about people with intellectual disability. One set asked directly: 'Do you think people with ID are dangerous?' The other used indirect wording: 'Most people think those with ID are dangerous—do you agree?'
Each person answered both formats. The team then compared how negative the answers were.
What they found
Indirect questions pulled out far more stigma. People admitted higher fear, blame, and desire for social distance when the question hid behind 'most people.'
Direct questions made stigma look milder and also made self-rated ID knowledge seem more linked to lower stigma—an illusion that vanished with indirect items.
How this fits with other research
Ohan et al. (2015) ran an RCT and saw that simply telling the public to use the term 'intellectual disability' can backfire and raise stigma. Both papers warn that surface wording changes don’t fix deep attitudes.
Erickson et al. (2016) found that closer personal contact cuts stigma, but the drop was small. Critchfield (2015) shows one reason: direct surveys hide the real negativity that contact must overcome.
Together the three studies say: measure attitudes with indirect tools first, then test real-contact programs, and don’t trust polite direct answers alone.
Why it matters
Before you run an anti-stigma workshop, swap your upfront Likert scales for indirect items (‘Most people feel…’). You’ll spot the true baseline negativity and won’t be fooled when post-training direct questions look better. Use that honest baseline to pick tougher, longer contact-based interventions instead of one-shot language lectures.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Stigma may negatively impact individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). However, most studies in the field have been based on the use of direct measurement methods for assessing stigma. This study examined public stigma towards individuals with ID within a representative sample of the Israeli public by comparing direct versus indirect questioning. METHODS: Vignette methodology was utilised with two questionnaire versions. In the direct questionnaire (n = 306), the participants were asked how they would think, feel and behave if a man with ID asked them a question in a public place. In the indirect questionnaire (n = 301), the participants were asked to report how a hypothetical 'other man' would think, feel and behave in the same situation. RESULTS: Higher levels of stigma were reported among participants that answered the indirect questionnaire version. Furthermore, among those participants that answered the indirect questionnaire version, subjective knowledge of ID was a less important correlate of stigma than for those participants that answered the direct questionnaire. CONCLUSION: Several explanations are suggested for the finding that indirect questioning elicits more negative stigmatic attitudes. Among others, indirect questioning may be a more appropriate methodology for eliciting immediate beliefs. Furthermore, the results call for implementing a comprehensive, multi-level programme to change stigma.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2015 · doi:10.1111/jir.12207