Situational and Dispositional Components of Reactions toward Persons with Disabilities

The situational and dispositional components of reactions toward disabled persons were investigated in a hypothetical format. Initially, a sample of American college students (n = 194) indicated the level of anticipated emotional arousal to 70 brief descriptions of situations in which contact with disabled people might occur on a college campus. Mean ratings were used to select nine situation descriptors representing a range of anticipated arousal levels. Subsequently, a separate sample of students (n = 164) completed the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale (Yuker, Block, & Younng, 1966) and were presented with one of the nine situation descriptors. Participants imagined themselves in the situation described (with a person with an immediately obvious disability) and indicated how they would feel and respond by completing various measures. Results indicated that emotional arousal and other reactions were attributable to main effects for both situational and attitudinal factors, whereas the statistical interactions between the two were not significant.