A Systematic Review of the Studies Focusing on Attitudes toward Individuals with Disabilities in Türkiye

Abstract

Attitudes play a crucial role in understanding individuals’ behaviors and judgments regarding disability. There have been a lot of studies conducted to assess attitudes toward disability in Türkiye. However, there is a need to examine the objectives, methods, and results of the conducted studies and suggest implications for future studies. The current paper aims to systematically review attitudes toward general disability research that was conducted using the available scales for assessing attitudes toward disabilities in general. For this aim, four attitudes toward disability scales that were developed in Türkiye or translated into Turkish were determined: Attitude Toward Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP), Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons (ATD), Attitudes towards Persons with Disabilities Inventory (APDI), and Multidimensional Attitude Scale toward Persons with Disabilities (MAS). 68 research studies using one of these scales were identified and examined on the basis of four determinants: research, sample, methods, and results. Results showed that most of the studies were descriptive and quasi-experimental and found positive attitudes towards IWDs. Even though there are contrasting findings for sociodemographic variables, having contact with IWDs and taking courses about disability might be effective in increasing positive attitudes. The limitations and implications for future studies are also discussed.