Social acceptance of EMR children during overt behavioral interactions

The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine whether EMR (educable mentally retarded) children are rejected during overt interactions with nonEMR children; and to determine whether EMR children who were integrated full time in a nongraded school are perceived by their nonEMR peers to be similar to segregated EMR or nonEMR children. Forty-two fourth, fifth, and sixth graders were asked to select one of two children as a partner to help them win a prize at a bean bag toss game. Depending upon the treatment, the other two children were either: a segregated EMR child and a nonEMR child, an integrated EMR child and a nonEMR child, or a segregated EMR child and an integrated EMR child. The results indicated that both integrated and segregated EMR children were chosen less often than nonEMR children, and that integrated and segregated EMR children were selected equally often. The findings were discussed in terms of the competence versus liking dimension. Also, it was suggested that future investigations might examine the effects of physical deviance on EMR children's social acceptability.