CONJOINT ANALYSIS OF ATTITUDES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELORS TOWARD PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Using a conjoint analysis design, this study aims to examine the importance of disability type, disability level, age, gender, and ethnic origin of individuals with disabilities in the attitude/preference formation of school counselors working with students with disabilities. Two hundred and ninety-one school counselors working in Mersin and Gaziantep, two big cities in Turkey, participated in the study. The results show that the most important factor influencing the attitudes of school counselors is disability type, which is followed by disability level, and the age of the individual with the disability and that ethnic origin and gender are the least important factors. As far as the specific categories of these factors, an orthopetic disability for the disability type, a mild level of disability for the disability level, 7-12 age year range for the age, female for gender and no difference for the ethnic origin were found to result in the most positive attitudes. Furthermore, school counselors’ attitudes were found to be more positive toward individuals with disabilities of the same gender and formal education age