The relationship between sense of agency and perceived stigma in those with cognitive disabilities

The focus population of this study is those with cognitive disabilities, which limit in some way a person’s ability to complete mental tasks, such as communication, planning, or remembering. The primary purpose is to focus on the participants' sense of agency and perceived stigma. The Sense of Agency Scale (SoA) measures a participant’s consciously perceived control over their mind, body, and the immediate environment. The Perceived Disability Social Stigma Scale (PDSS) measures to what degree participants believe that people with disabilities are stigmatized in their respective communities. Confirmatory research into these two variables offers an interesting insight into how the degree of stigmatization a person feels may affect the degree to which they feel they are in charge of their own life. It was predicted that the degree of stigmatization that participants perceived would relate to their sense of agency. There was a moderate negative correlation between perceived stigma and positive sense of agency (r=-.26, p=.015, 95% CI [-.439, -.051], N=90). These findings suggest that in a population of people with cognitive disabilities, there is a correlation between positive agency and perceived stigma.