Consuming Image: How Mass Media Impact the Identity of People with Disabilities
Abstract
This research investigated what people with disabilities think about media representations of their community and how mass media impact their disability identity. The study found that respondents (N = 359) think American media portray people with disabilities both negatively and positively. Perceived positive media representation of people with disabilities led to affirmation of their disability identity even when the media messages were perceived as unrealistic, whereas negative media representation led to denial of their disability identity. Implications and limitations are discussed.
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Positive portrayals of people with disabilities in visual media can affirm identity.
“It also impacts how PwD form their identity: positive portrayals can affirm identity, while negative ones may lead to denial [120].”
From Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation (2026) · cites this paper as [120]
Media portrayals of people with disabilities often portray them as super-heroes overcoming insurmountable barriers.
“Yet, PwD are frequently absent or negatively stereotyped in media [34, 49, 103, 120] -portraying them as objects of pity, charity, or humor [49, 88], or as super-heroes overcoming insurmountable barriers [34, 100, 120].”
From Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation (2026) · cites this paper as [120]
People with disabilities are frequently absent or negatively stereotyped in media.
“Yet, PwD are frequently absent or negatively stereotyped in media [34, 49, 103, 120] -portraying them as objects of pity, charity, or humor [49, 88], or as super-heroes overcoming insurmountable barriers [34, 100, 120].”
From Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation (2026) · cites this paper as [120]
Negative portrayals of people with disabilities in visual media may lead to denial.
“It also impacts how PwD form their identity: positive portrayals can affirm identity, while negative ones may lead to denial [120].”
From Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation (2026) · cites this paper as [120]
Cites
Gender identification moderates stereotype threat effects on women's math performance
Schmader, T. (2002) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1006/jesp.2001.1500 · Cited by 711 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
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Disability in influencer marketing: a complex model of disability representation
Södergren, J., & Vallström, N. (2023) · Journal of Marketing Management · doi:10.1080/0267257x.2022.2144418 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Lillywhite, A., & Wolbring, G. (2020) · Societies · doi:10.3390/soc10010023 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Shelton, S. S., & Waddell, T. F. (2021) · Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising · doi:10.1080/10641734.2020.1808125 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Engaging Communities Meaningfully in Defining Disability Representation for AI Image Generation
Thieme, A., Faia Marques, R., Grayson, M., Balachandar, S., Tyler Cassidy, C., Choksi, M. Z., Longden, C., Huda, R. S., Ileve Kalovwe, N., Mallon, C., et al. (2026) · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3772318.3790768 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Yet, PwD are frequently absent or negatively stereotyped in media [34, 49, 103, 120] – portraying them as objects of pity, charity, or humor [49, 88], or as super-heroes overcoming insurmountable barriers [34, 100, 120].”
- Authors
- Zhang, L., & Haller, B.
- Affiliations
- Towson University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Zhang, Lingling
- Venue
- Communication Quarterly
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-07
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 319-334
- ISSN
- 0040-8573 (ISSN-L)
- 0146-3373
- 1746-4102
- OpenAlex
- W1981825942
- Cited by
- 152
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 5.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Communication Quarterly (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Disability Rights and Representation
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Inclusion and Disability in Education and Sport
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Media Influence and Health
- Keywords
- disability identity, media representation, people with disabilities, mass media, identity affirmation, identity denial
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