Attitudes Toward Peers With Physical Disabilities at High School

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study attitudes toward people with disabilities from the viewpoint of the integrated threat theory of prejudice. This theory postulates that threat may cause negative attitudes toward a group and posits that such threat may come from different sources. To test this model, a study was carried out with high school students ( N = 228), which included social dominance orientation (SDO) as antecedent variable. Perceived threat for resources and intergroup anxiety were the mediating threats investigated in this process. Results showed support for the theory: Perceived threat for resources and intergroup anxiety seemed to be effective mediators. SDO also appeared as a potent antecedent predictor of attitudes toward people with physical disabilities.