The influence of some socio-demographic characteristics of young people on their attitudes towards people with physical disabilities
The influence of some socio-demographic characteristics of young people on their attitudes towards people with physical disabilities

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the influence of some socio-demographic markers of young people on their attitudes towards people with physical disabilities. The research was carried out on a sample of 257 people in Croatia: 127 university students (final year); and 130 elementary school pupils (final year). Both cognitive and emotional components were taken into consideration in the analysis: the cognitive component in the sense of the segregation of people with physical disabilities and the perception of the position of people with disabilities as tragic; the emotional component in the sense of the feeling of uneasiness in communicating with people with disabilities. The results of the research have shown that the age of respondents is an extremely important component: younger people have less experience and know less about people with physical disabilities, and, consequently, their attitudes are less positive in comparison with the attitudes of university students. In addition, different attitudes were found considering sex as a marker: girls have a more positive attitude towards people with disabilities than do boys. Experience is connected only with the affective component of attitudes. It is of crucial importance to continue work on providing information about people with disabilities and on their further integration into society.

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