The Implicit Association Test as a Measure of Attitudinal Biases Towards Individuals with Disabilities: Assessing the Convergent Validity with the Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale and Tringou27s Disability Social Distance Scale

摘要

The present study addressed attitudes toward individuals with disabilities. Barriers that individuals with disabilities have faced and continue to face were discussed. Drawbacks (e.g., fakeability and unidimensionality) of traditional paper-and-pencil tests were presented. The Implicit Association Test (IAT), Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale (IDP), Tringou27s Disability Social Distance Scale (DSDS), and Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCSDS) were administered to 74 college students. Participants completed IAT tests for four disability conditions (i.e., paraplegic, alcoholism, cancer, and mental illness) in an effort to replicate Tringou27s Hierarchy of Preference. The Hierarchy of Preference was not replicated in the current study. However, the replication of the Hierarchy of Preference using the DSDS established the stability of the Hierarchy. A relationship was found between the IAT and the IDP. No relationship was established for the DSDS and the IDP. Altogether, measuring attitudes toward individuals with disabilities using the IAT is worthy of continued research.