Modification of attitudes toward people with disabilities

Abstract

Negative attitudes toward people with disabilities are among the most significant barriers hindering the successful social integration of such individuals. The origins of negative attitudes toward people with disabilities are complexly intertwined. They appear to stem from faulty information about disability, information originating from pervasive sociocultural conditioning, the spread phenomenon, and the fear of social ostracism. The lack of social exposure to individuals with disabilities further fosters these negative attitudes by creating anxiety and confusion when people, who are able-bodied, are interacting with individuals who have disabilities. Based on Fishbein and Ajzen's framework of attitude formation that an attitude toward an object is a function of beliefs about that object, it is postulated that effective attitude modification requires a combined strategy of (i) delivering accurate information about disability and (ii) enforcing rewarding contacts between 'nondisabled' and people with disabilities.