Mediating Effects of Social and Economic Disadvantage in the Relationship between Disability and Subjective Well-being

• In Event: 444 - Section on Disability and Society Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 02. Disability in the Family: Explanatory Models for Well-Being

Abstract

The Social Model of Disability, which views social and economic barriers rather than individual bodily differences as the main sources of disadvantage faced by people living with impairments, has gained considerable traction in the literatures of both disability studies and the sociology of disability over the past several decades. Despite this success, however, concern has been expressed that there is a dearth of empirical evidence to back Social Model claims that people with disabilities are not saddened by their bodily differences, but rather by the layers of social and economic disadvantage imposed on top of their impairments. In this paper, we seek to contribute to the body of empirical evidence for the Social Model approach to disability by examining the degree to which the relationship between disability and well-being can be explained by the social and economic disadvantages associated with disability. Using results of a community survey in a small town in Florida, we find that disabled study participants are less happy than their non-disabled counterparts. Findings also suggest, however, that with the exception of feeling happy about one’s physical health, the differences in subjective well-being between disabled and non-disabled participants can be explained by lack of social inclusion and economic disadvantage associated with disability.

Authors

• Sara E. Green, University of South Florida

• Brianna Vice, Polk County Schools