Attitudes toward people with physical disabilities, their structure and correlating variables

This article deals with attitudes toward people with physical disability, their structure and the valence of these attitudes and the related socio-demographic variables. The attitudes have been investigated applying a semi-projective multidimensional instrument (MAS) to a large sample (N=2331) of participants of general population in Serbia. Principal component factor analysis with Promax rotation revealed two components for each dimension of the attitude: components of positive and perplexing cognition on cognitions subscale, components of stressful and overtly negative emotions on affects subscale and components of avoiding and approaching behavior on behaviors subscale. The data we obtained show that the participants hold predominantly positive attitudes toward people with disability. But the differences can be seen in reaction of male and female respondents on encountering person with disability. Comparison between answers of male and female respondents revealed that female respondents have less overtly negative emotions (disgust, indifference and the feeling of guilt), more positive thoughts and more approaching behaviors toward person with disability. The results of present study confirm the hypothesis that prior acquaintance with persons with disability influences the quality of attitudes. Participants who had prior contacts with persons with disabilities show more positive thoughts and more approaching behaviors then participants who did not have such a contact. Further investigation is needed to explore apparent absence of differences in emotions, requiring more accurate delineation of underlying emotions which lead to or inhibit the pro-social behaviors, as well as finding the best way for their modification