Research On Attitudes Of Undergraduates Toward People With Disabilities

The socially vulnerable groups have been a hot issue of social research interests in recent years, but less attention has been paid on the issue of people with disabilities among the socially vulnerable groups. Although some scholars have carried out research on people with disabilities, they particularly emphasize the perspective of public administration on the employment, education, social security and medical rehabilitation of people with disabilities. The research on the attitudes toward people with disabilities from the perspective of social psychology has been void in China. Firstly, the western theories and research are introduced as the theory background of this research is: (1) The models of disability, which are used to define disability and lead people into deeper understanding of the social origins from which different attitudes toward people with disabilities are based; (2) Four theories about the formation of attitude toward people with disabilities: behavior theory, harmony theory, cognition theory and functional theory; (3) Effective strategies on changing attitudes toward people with disabilities, such as increasing contacts, providing information, participating in mutual activities and enacting beneficial policies on behalf of people with disabilities; (4) Measurement of attitudes toward people with disabilities, such as the ATDP and the SADP. Secondly, I surveyed the attitudes of the undergraduates toward people with disabilities using the SADP. Here are the results of research: (1)The newly translated Chinese edition of the SADP has been proved to have good reliability and validity, and the results are stable and reliable. (2)The subjects with different backgrounds were found to hold positive attitudes toward people with disabilities. (3)There are significant demographical differences in the attitudes of the undergraduates toward people with disabilities. The scores of those that have more contacts, understanding, intimate relationship with people with disabilities are significant higher than those that have less contact, understanding or are less intimate with disable people. I used the variables such as frequency of contacting, relationships and the depth of communication as independent variables. I used the variables of attitudes toward people with disabilities as dependent variables to carry on the analysis of regression. The variables of relationships enter the regression equation in every case. The value of R2 is a bit lower, therefore it can explain that this variable has some impact on attitudes, but cannot be a decisive factor.