Public Attitudes Towards Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities as Measured by the Concept of Social Distance

Abstract

Background While current practices strive to include individuals with intellectual disabilities in community opportunities, stigmatizing attitudes held by the public can be a barrier to achieving true social inclusion. Methods A sample of 625 community members completed the Social Distance Subscale of the Multidimensional Attitude Scale on Mental Retardation. Results Older and less educated participants held attitudes that reflected greater social distance. Participants who had a close family member with an intellectual disability and those who perceived the average level of disability to be 'mild' expressed less social distance. The limited variability in scores leads us to question our overall finding of very favourable attitudes towards social interaction with persons with intellectual disabilities.Conclusions This study demonstrates that although certain demographic variables are still relevant in identifying social distance attitudes, the measurement of this construct requires revision to ensure a valid and sensitive reflection of the public's attitudes.

Exploring the attitudes and knowledge of support workers towards individuals with intellectual disabilities

“…Ouellette- Kuntz et al (2010) report similar findings using the Social Distance subscale of the Multidimensional Attitude Scale on Mental Retardation (Harth, 1971). Social distance refers to a willingness to recognize, live near or be associated with a certain individual or group (Harth, 1971).…”

Public Attitudes Toward People With Intellectual Disabilities After Viewing Olympic or Paralympic Performance

“…Although care was taken to match this sample to the general population for age and gender, this sample may not be adequately representative of the general public. It has been noted in previous research that level of education can affect attitudes toward individuals with intellectual disabilities (Ouellette-Kuntz, Burge, Brown, & Arsenault, 2010). Therefore, the nature of the sample provides a potential limitation as it involved students studying at a degree level, who may hold more favorable attitudes than those educated below this level.…”

Attitudes Toward Individuals with Disabilities: The Effects of Contact with Different Disability Types

“…Some studies (e.g., Hunt and Hunt 2004) suggest that attitudes often go beyond the physical disability itself to include a perception of low social skills and intelligence although such deficits might not exist. Individuals with a physical disability who were perceived as "active" (Barg et al 2010) and individuals who were perceived to have a "mild" intellectual disability elicited more positive attitudes (Ouellette-Kuntz et al 2010). Interestingly, individuals with a disability are often rated higher on perceived warmth than individuals without a disability (Cuddy et al 2009).…”