Young Children's Responses to a Physically Disabled Storybook Hero
The purpose of this study was to determine if identification and affinity for a storybook hero are functions of physical status. The similar groups (one disabled) aged 4 to 7 were randomly assigned to one of two storybook treatments telling of two boys' friendship. One version depicted both boys as nondisabled (control); the other depicted one boy as disabled (experimental). Questions were asked to determine whether the hero's disability affected the subjects' identification with or choice of him as a friend. Significant differences appeared between responses of two groups and again when sex was isolated as a variable. Disabled males identified less willingly with the disabled hero than did disabled females and preferred friendship of the nondisabled hero. Nondisabled males identified with the nondisabled hero but preferred friendship of the disabled hero while nondisabled females rejected him as a friend