The Attitudes of Non-Disabled High School Students Toward Same-Age, Same-Sex Peers With Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes of non-disabled high school students toward performing behaviors of various levels of intimacy with peers with disabilities. The three behaviors were either highly intimate, moderately intimate, or of low intimacy. The peers with disabilities were either physically handicapped or educable mentally retarded (EMR). Data were obtained via a closed-format questionnaire completed in accord with the Fishbein and Ajzen theory of reasoned action. In presenting the data, the means used to describe the strength of the relationships between the components of the experimental model and the differences between subjects' responses toward the various experimental conditions were the correlation coefficient and the One-Way ANOVA. Two hundred and eleven students from a university-based midwestern high school completed the questionnaire. Tests of significance (p $<$.05) indicated that subjects were more favorable in both their attitude toward the performance of behaviors with the target peer with a physical disability than with the non-disabled target peer, and in their attitude toward the performance of these behaviors with the non-disabled target peer and the target peer with the physical disability than with the target peer with EMR. Subjects were also significantly less favorable in their attitude toward the performance of a behavior as that behavior became more intimate. In addition, subjects were favorable in their attitude toward the performance of the low and moderately intimate behaviors with the three types of target peer. However, subjects were more favorable in their attitude toward the performance of these behaviors with the target peer with the physical disability than with the other types of target peer. Subjects tended toward neutral in their attitude toward the performance of the high intimacy behavior with both the non-disabled and physically disabled target peers, and were unfavorable in their attitude toward the performance of this behavior with the target peer with EMR.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Karnilowicz, Wally

Contributors dc:contributor

• Henderson, Robert A.

• Education, Sociology of
• Education, Special

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8908728

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/69215