Disability Representation in Social and Personality Psychology Research: A State-of-the-Art Review
We conducted a systematic state-of-the-art review examining disability representation of three flagship social and personality psychology journals between 2017 and 2022. First, we examined the 2,343 articles published in that time frame and found that 192 (8.19%) of them used at least one instance of disability-related terminology. Second, we examined patterns of disability-related terminology use and found that these concepts were most often used extraneously (e.g., in parenthetical phrases). Only 3 (0.13%) articles were primarily focused on disability. This is the first systematic investigation to examine how and to what extent social and personality psychology research addresses topics related to disability. These findings highlight a need for substantive change in the representation of disability within social and personality psychology. We close with recommendations for researchers.
Authors
- Brandon L. Boring (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5570-9653)
- Felix Y. Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8008-6390)
- Kathleen R. Bogart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6923-5700)
- Alyssa Hillary Zisk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2266-4855)
- Rachel A. VanDaalen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2097-3769)
- Kyle Anderson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9223-6998)
- Jennifer Grace Pearlstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7468-5004)
- Jordan Rubin‐McGregor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1800-7492)
- Bridget Klest (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7464-1375)
- Payton D. Rule (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1559-193X)
- Katie Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3727-4147)
- Jessica L. McManus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3305-7594)
- William B. Meese (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7582-7550)
- Emily F. Plackowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6746-8842)
- S. Mason Garrison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4804-6003)
- Ian Moura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8135-1096)
- Tory G. Benson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0715-1373)
- Zofia Danae Cuenco
- Samantha R. Van Doren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8651-8278)
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- Boston College (US)
- The Graduate Center, CUNY (US)
- Oregon State University (US)
- Kent State University (US)
- University of California, Merced (US)
- University of Rhode Island (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Yale University (US)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Human Resources Research Organization (US)
- Wake Forest University (US)
- Brandeis University (US)
- Miami University (US)
- Hood College (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Social Psychological and Personality Science
- Published
- 2026-09-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506261480179
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Disability Rights and Representation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.82