Chinese Undergraduates’ Explicit and Implicit Attitudes Toward Persons With Disabilities

Abstract

The present study is aimed at examining implicit and explicit attitudes toward persons with disabilities among Chinese college students. The Implicit Association Test was used to measure their implicit attitudes, whereas their explicit attitudes toward persons with disabilities were measured by using a scale of three items. Participants were 56 randomly recruited undergraduate students at a university in Beijing. The results showed that implicit and explicit attitudes were antagonistic to each other. Students tended to hold negative attitudes implicitly and positive attitudes explicitly toward persons with disabilities. In particular, students from rural areas exhibited more negative implicit attitudes than those from urban areas; males demonstrated more negative explicit attitudes than females. Implications for rehabilitation counselors are discussed.