Effects of cognitive modeling, affect, and contact on attitudes, thoughts, and feelings toward college students with physical disabilities (original) (raw)
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Rehabilitation Psychology, 1991
Thoughts and feelings about casual social interaction between nondisabled college students and peers with various physical disabilities were explored in a sample of 127 nondisabled, 17 visually impaired, 10 hearing impaired, and 19 wheelchair-user college students. The results indicate that nondisabled students experienced more negative affect and thinking about interacting with students who have disabilities than with able-bodied peers; the nature of the disability made little difference. Thoughts and feelings of students with and without disabilities concerning interacting with able-bodied peers were generally similar. These findings suggest that difficulties between college students with and without disabilities during casual social interactions are due, primarily, to the nature of nondisabled individuals' cognitions and affect. Recommendations for future research and for the design of attitude change programming to facilitate interaction are made.
1981
Physical impediments are not the only possible obstacles for handicapped students; they also must deal with the attitudes of their fellow students. To assess the attitudes of college students toward physically disabled students, 224 undergraoaates completed the Situational Attitude Scale-Handicapped (SAS-H). Results showed that, in general, students had negative attitudes toward people who were blind or in wheelchairs in situations where close personal contact was required, such as dating or marriage, but were more neutral or positive in less intimate situations such as employment or receiving help in a library. Students were more comfortable having close personal contact with students in a wheelchair than with blind students in academic situations, such as receiving help with classwork. The findings suggest that prejudice toward and stereotypes of disabled persons can be reduced by recognizing that potential differences in reactions by situation and disability exist.
Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 2008
Research on integration suggests that the major benefit of educational integrated programmes is the facilitation of intergroup contact between mentally handicapped and non-handicapped students. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of different amounts of social contact with severely handicapped students on attitudes and emotional reactions of college students towards such students and their integration into mainstream education. The study was carried out in a tertiary college which has a link programme with a local school for pupils with severe learning difficulties. The results indicated that those participants who had social contact with severely handicapped students held more favourable attitudes and emotional reactions toward such students than did those who had no social contact with this group. The study concludes that the educational integration programmes can positively modify attitudes and emotional reactions of college students towards severely handicapped students. However, in order to implement an effective link or integration programme and to foster attitudes more favourable towards severely handicapped students, the study recommends that more opportunities for intergroup contact and social interaction between non-handicapped and handicapped students need to be provided.
Research Paper Determinants of Students' Attitudes Toward People With Physical-Motor Disability
Practice in Clinical Psychology, 2022
This study examined the role of social desirability, self-esteem, and some demographic variables in predicting university students' attitudes toward people with physicalmotor disabilities. Methods: The participants in this cross-sectional study were 300 students of Kurdistan University, Sanandaj city, Iran, selected using convenience sampling. The students completed the items in the Google forms of the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability scale (MC-SDS), Rosenberg self-esteem scale (Rosenberg, 1965b), a demographic information form, and the multidimensional attitudes scale towards persons with disability (MAS). The collected data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficients and hierarchical linear regression analysis in SPSS software v. 23. Results: The results showed significant attitudinal differences in students with different demographic characteristics except for gender and education (P<0.05). In addition, social desirability and self-esteem were stronger predictors of the students' attitudes toward people with physical-motor disability than each variable alone (P>0.05). Conclusion: Various demographic variables and other factors like self-esteem and social desirability affect students' attitudes toward people with physical-motor disabilities. A key implication of the present study is that the role of tested variables could differ depending on cognitive, affect, and behavioral dimensions of attitudes. Researchers must pay attention to this point in future studies.
Individuals’ attitudes about persons with disability (PwD) strongly affect differently-abled persons’ quality of life and position in society. Some research offers support for the ability of systematic, supported, longitudinal contact between different groups of individuals to improve attitudes. College campuses, in particular, offer a potentially useful arena in which to facilitate this type of contact. This study explored contextual factors (eg, geographic region, biological sex) and predictors of disability-related attitudes among a college student population to determine strategies for course-based intervention design (eg, as community-engaged or service-learning initiatives). Surveying participants from universities in two regions of the United States, we found that self-esteem, audience-based communication apprehension, and contact with PwD explain more than 50% of the variance in disability-related attitudes. Further, we found that geographic location affects both self-esteem and audience-based communication apprehension (communicating/interacting with PwD). We discuss the implications for community engagement and/or service learning and highlight the importance of partnerships among relevant community stakeholders, including university faculty, students, and staff.
Effects of contact with individuals with disabilities: Positive attitudes and majoring in education
2008
Attitudes toward and contact with individuals with disabilities have been topics of research for years. The major purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of contact with individuals with disabilities on attitudes and choosing to major in education. Participants were 211 undergraduate students who completed a survey of attitudes and contact with individuals with physical, developmental, and behavioral disabilities. Results demonstrated that lower misconceptions about disabilities mediated the relation between increased contact with individuals with behavioral disabilities and being an education major. The results of this study (a) can be used to determine how future teachers should be trained and (b) highlight the need for future teachers to engage in certain field experiences.
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities: The effects of age, gender, and relationship
2012
Attitudes toward individuals with disabilities are influenced by the amount of contact one has with such individuals. This research investigated if the relationship a person has with individuals with disabilities is associated with positive attitudes more so than mere contact with such individuals. Increased contact with friends with disabilities and activities with individuals with disabilities were associated with more positive altitudes. Contact with relatives and classmates with a disability was not associated with more positive attitudes. Age and gender were found to moderate these relationships. Contact with friends with disabilities increased positive attitudes for younger but not older participants. Contact with classmates with disabilities decreased positive attitudes for males but not females. This research can help us better understand disabilityrelated bias.
College Students’ Social Perceptions Toward Individuals With Intellectual Disability
Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 2018
The purpose of the current study was to describe the social perceptions of American college students toward individuals with intellectual disability (ID), identify factors that influence social perception, and determine if level of functioning alters one’s perception. The sample was comprised of 186 American college students. The participants completed the Attitudes Toward Intellectual Disability Questionnaire (ATTID). The ATTID measures five factors—discomfort toward ID, knowledge of capacity and rights, interaction with individuals with ID, sensibility/tenderness, and knowledge of causes. The students’ overall social perception toward ID was primarily positive for all factors except for sensibility/tenderness. More positive social perception was found among students with greater knowledge of ID and more frequent and more positive interactions with individuals with ID. In addition, social perception was significantly more negative for lower functioning than higher functioning indiv...
2017
Introduc)on The social and medical models of disability are sets of underlying assump?ons explaining people's beliefs about the causes and implica?ons of disability. • The medical model is the predominant model in the United States that is associated with the belief that disability is an undesirable status that needs to be cured (Darling & Heckert, 2010). This model focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and cura?ve efforts related to disability. • The social model is preferred by disability ac?vists and researchers which focuses on society’s involvement in disability, such as s?gma?za?on, discrimina?on and the interpersonal barriers that are features of one’s disability. The social model suggests that society disables individuals and is the cause of impairment (Olkin, 2003). Allport’s contact hypothesis states that increased contact with people with disabili?es (PWD) will reduce prejudice through rela?onship building and social connec?on (Allport, 1954). • Pe8grew’s Intergroup Con...
2015
Contact with individuals with disabilities influences positive attitudes toward such individuals. This research investigated if contact with individuals with specific disabilities has an effect on attitudes toward other disabilities. Specifically, this research investigated physical, developmental and behavioral disabilities. While participants reported the most contact with individuals with physical disabilities and the most negative attitudes toward individuals with developmental disabilities, contact with individuals with behavioral disabilities was the best predictor of positive attitudes toward all disability types. This demonstrates that the relation between contact and attitudes is more nuanced than originally thought and can help us better understand disability related bias.