Some interpersonal consequences of being mentally ill or mentally retarded.

The present study was carried out at an institution for mentally retarded persons where the subjects (college students) were transported. Under the guise of being "normal," mentally ill, or mentally retarded, each of four confederates met three independent groups of subjects. The verbal reports of the subjects did not vary a great deal as a function of condition, but amount of pain inflicted in an experimental task was strikingly different. In the mentally retarded confederate condition, shocks delivered were shorter and less intense than those given in the "normal" or mentally ill confederate conditions. Since subjects had to teach the confederate, they might have been kinder in the mentally retarded confederate condition because less was expected of the learner. Evidence was also found suggesting that the social impact of stigmas depends on the personal characteristics of the stigmatized person.