Exploring undergraduate student attitudes toward persons with disabilities: Application of the Disability Social Relationship Scale

The Disability Social Relations Generalized Disability (DSRGD) Scale was used to explore the influence of the social context on attitudes toward persons with disabilities. The DSRGD Scale was based on the Disability Social Relationship (DSR) Scale (Grand, Bernier, & Strohmer, 1982; Strohmer, Grand, & Purcell, 1984). A sample of 1,013 undergraduate students completed the DSRGD. Principal axis factoring yielded three factors representing the three contextual subscales of Dating, Marriage, and Work. The study findings identified a significant effect of context on attitudes toward persons with disabilities. A significant effect of gender across social context was identified, with females scoring higher than males on the subscales of Dating, Marriage, and Work.