Language plays an indispensable role in the transmission, maintenance, and formation of culturally shared beliefs. Yet beliefs about groups, in particular, are shared despite the existence of prohibitive norms that act to inhibit their expression. This apparent incongruity suggests that cultural beliefs become shared through linguistic means other than explicit expression. In support of this, the linguistic bias paradigm proposes that linguistic bias is the implicit and unintentional expression of beliefs through the differential use of linguistic abstraction (Franco & Maass, 1996; Maass, 1999; Maass, Salvi, Arcuri, & Semin, 1989), as defined by the Linguistic Category Model (Semin & Fiedler, 1988). According to this paradigm, linguistic bias not only reveals the speakers’ privately held beliefs but also transmits these beliefs to recipients, leading to belief sharedness. The consequences of exposure to linguistic bias, however, have yet to be shown and this is the aim of the present research program. The first study focuses on belief transmission, by determining if there is a direct causal effect from linguistic abstraction to individual impression formation. Results show that biased language transmits information about individuals but the communication context, specifically whom the message is about, is also important. Given this, it is likely that the content of the message will also affect the reception of biased language. The second study thus focuses on belief maintenance, by considering the relative effects of different levels of linguistic abstraction on pre-existing beliefs. Results were inconclusive, but may have been affected by methodological limitations. The third study addresses these limitations while focusing on belief formation, by measuring the impact of biased language in the absence of pre-existing beliefs. Recipients, in general, formed beliefs that corresponded to the biased language to which they were exposed. Together, these studies suggest that linguistic bias plays a role in belief sharedness as a mechanism through which cultural beliefs are transmitted and formed. Linguistic bias, however, must be understood within the specific communication context, which also independently affects reception.

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<p>The dissertation includes two independent chapters which investigated the experiences of individuals with disabilities in connection with societal attitudes regarding disability. The first article is a systematized review which analyzes and synthesizes the existing literature on implicit and explicit disability attitudes across multiple domains (e.g., educational; occupational; healthcare). Chapter 1 identifies common themes across the existing literature and identifies potential predictors and buffers of negative disability attitudes. The article concludes with a call to counseling psychologists to address negative disability attitudes utilizing the roles and themes of the field. Finally, suggestions are made regarding the development and implementation of interventions to help address negative disability attitudes and the subsequent harmful effects. </p><p>The second article is an empirical study that examines factors related to the persistence intentions of individuals with disabilities to address the high attrition rates of this population within postsecondary environments. A moderated mediation model is proposed to address four hypotheses. First, I hypothesized academic self-efficacy would mediate the relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions. Second, coping self-efficacy would mediate the relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions. Third, social self-efficacy would mediate the relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions. Fourth, I hypothesized that endorsing a growth mindset would buffer against the negative indirect relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions which operate through academic self-efficacy. Data were collected from postsecondary students who identified as having one or multiple diagnosed disabilities at a large public university in the Midwest. The study results supported my first hypothesis that academic self-efficacy would significantly mediate the relationship between stereotype threat and persistence intentions. Additionally, the results revealed that high levels of perceived stereotype threat were associated with lower levels of coping self-efficacy and social self-efficacy, as the researcher anticipated. However, our second and third hypotheses were rejected due to these mediating factors not significantly influencing a participants’ intentions to persist within the academic environment. Finally, the results suggested that one’s mindset of intelligence was a positive main effect predictor of academic self-efficacy. However, contrary to our fourth hypothesis, mindset of intelligence did not significantly moderate the negative indirect relation between stereotype threat and persistence intentions that operate through academic self-efficacy.</p>

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