The Impact of Disability Status, Proximity to People with Disabilities, and Personality Factors on Attitudes toward People with Disabilities Público

Abstract

Research indicates that many individuals hold negative attitudes toward people with disabilities, but very little was known about if or how these attitudes may vary within the disability community itself. Personality factors and proximity may play a role in determining attitudes toward people with disabilities as well. The current study examined the extent to which having a disability, the personality traits of openness to experience, agreeableness, and extraversion, and proximity to people with disabilities predicted one’s attitudes toward people with disabilities. A sample of 100 Emory University students took part in the study, which consisted of a series of questionnaires related to attitudes toward people with disabilities, contact with people with disabilities, and personality factors. Individuals who were more extraverted were found to have more positive attitudes toward people with disabilities. No direct association was found between openness or agreeableness with attitudes toward people with disabilities. A bootstrapping procedure was performed to compensate for a low number of participants with disabilities in order to compare attitudes toward people with disabilities from disabled and nondisabled populations; this analysis was not significant. Contrary to predictions, no significant correlation was found between proximity toward people with disabilities and attitudes toward people with disabilities. More work needs to be done to better understand the causes of attitudes toward people with disabilities.

Table of Contents

 Table of Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1

Perceptions of the Disability Community .................................................................................................2

Potential Moderators of Attitudes toward People with Disabilities ..........................................................4

Proximity .............................................................................................................................................................. 4

Personality ............................................................................................................................................................ 5

Views from Within the Disability Community .........................................................................................7

Current Study ............................................................................................................................................9

Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................................9

Methods......................................................................................................................................... 11

Participants ..............................................................................................................................................11

Measures of Primary Variables ...............................................................................................................12

Attitudes Toward People with Disabilities......................................................................................................... 12

Proximity ............................................................................................................................................................ 13

Personality Traits................................................................................................................................................ 13 Demographics..................................................................................................................................................... 14

Procedure.................................................................................................................................................14 Results........................................................................................................................................... 14

Overall Descriptives for Measures..........................................................................................................14

Tests on Main Hypotheses ......................................................................................................................15

Attitudes toward People with Disabilities .......................................................................................................... 15

Proximity ............................................................................................................................................................ 15

Personality Factors ............................................................................................................................................. 15

Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Strengths..................................................................................................................................................18 Limitations...............................................................................................................................................19

Future Directions.....................................................................................................................................20

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 23 References..................................................................................................................................... 24

Tables ............................................................................................................................................ 29 Figures........................................................................................................................................... 36 Appendices.................................................................................................................................... 38 

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, General
Palabra Clave	proximity attitudes personality factors disability
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Jessica Barber, Emory University
Committee Members	Dr. Sherryl Goodman, Emory University Dr. Benjamin Reiss, Emory University

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