UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: DOES TYPE, EXPOSURE AND THE NEED FOR SOCIAL APPROVAL MATTER?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aimed to explore the multidimensional attitudes of university students towards people with motor, intellectual, and sensory (vision and hearing) disabilities. Three variables were discussed: type of disability, exposure to people with disabilities, and the need for social approval. This study included 712 university students. The results confirmed that the most negative attitudes were held towards people with intellectual disability and the most positive attitudes towards persons with motor disability in all dimensions: cognitive, emotional, and social. The type of exposure to people with disabilities was significant, and the most positive attitudes were observed when respondents had a friend with a disability. The hypothesis on the correlation between the need for social approval and students’ attitudes towards people with disabilities was only partially confirmed.

Keywords

• Disability
• Attitudes
• Social approval
• Multidimensional
• University students