Beatrice Wright (psychologist)

Wright was born Beatrice Ann Posner along with her twin brother Sidney in Richmond, New York, on December 16, 1917. Her parents, Jerome and Sonia Posner, were Russian immigrants whose egalitarian and humanistic views later influenced her academic work. Wright met her husband, Erik, while studying at the University of Iowa. == Professional life ==

After graduating from high school at 16, Wright attended Brooklyn College, where she studied psychology. The Wrights moved to Australia in 1959 when Erik, received a fellowship from the Fulbright Program. In 1983 she republished an extensively revised version of the book retitled Physical Disability—A Psychosocial Approach to reflect the importance of the interactions with the environment. The APA has also canonized the revision as an outstanding publication. Wright's awards for her work include the Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Iowa, the Irvin Youngberg Award for Achievement in Applied Science in 1984, and the Kurt Lewin Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. == Physical Disability—A Psychosocial Approach ==

Physical Disability—A Psychosocial Approach is wide in scope, as it addresses many components of acceptance of physical disability on personal and societal levels. Wright contrasts coping and succumbing as the two frameworks in which disability is addressed. She also presents a stage model of psychosocial adjustment to disability, by presenting four major changes: enlargement of scope, subordination of the physique, containment of disability effects, and transformation from comparative to asset values. Enlargement of scope includes recognizing values separate from the disability: a person begins to acknowledge areas of skill not affected by their disability. This is typically the first change to occur. In the second change, the subordination of the physique, a person begins to limit the importance of physical appearance as a source of identity; they often increase the emphasis on personality or personal traits not connected to their disability. The third component is containment of disability effects: the person sees the disability as affecting only the parts of them it actually affects instead of generalizing limitations to other areas. Finally, there is a transformation from comparative to asset values in which the person stops comparing themself to others and focuses more on their own values. == See also ==