Effects of label‐appropriate and label‐inappropriate behavior on interpersonal ratings1

The relationship between the diagnostic label assigned to a child and the type of behavior exhibited by that child was investigated in this study. A group of advanced undergraduate students was asked to complete one of four randomly assigned case studies in which the label assigned to the child and/or the type of behavior exhibited by the child had been manipulated. The hypothetical child was said to be either emotionally disturbed (ED) or learning disabled (LD) and his case study contained behaviors characteristic of emotionally disturbed or learning disabled children; four label and behavior conditions were simulated and analyzed. Analysis of results suggested that label‐non‐appropriate behavior (i.e., LD child with ED behavior) was more disturbing and less accepted than label‐appropriate behavior (i.e., ED child with ED behavior). Implications of the study were discussed with regard to labeling theory and teacher training practices.