Adolescents' attitudes toward peers who wear visible hearing aids.

The purpose of this study was to determine how adolescents are likely to react to peers who wear visible hearing aids. Forty high school juniors and seniors rated a photograph of a male peer on an 81-scale semantic differential. One-half rated a copy of the photograph in which a hearing aid was visible and the others rated a copy in which one was not visible. Analyses of the ratings suggest that adolescents are likely to react negatively to peers who wear visible hearing aids. Clinical implications are discussed.