Changing Attitudes toward Physically Disabled persons using a Videotape Sport Intervention

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of a videotape intervention on the attitudes toward physically disabled persons. The subjects were 86 elementary and secondary students from the same school district. Utilizing a stratified random sampling technique, subjects were assigned to control and experimental groups for each age range (11 to 13 and 16 to 19z0. All subjects completed the Attitude Toward Disabled Persons Scale, Form 0, on three occasions with two-week intervals. The experimental group witnessed a 17-minute videotape of a wheelchair basketball game before the second administration. Results of the study indicated that the experimental group experienced a positive gain in attitude between the first and second administrations while the control group did not. This positive gain, however, decreased by the third administration but remained significantly higher than the first administration. The subject's age was not a significant factor in attitude change. The study concluded that a sport videotape is an effective way to change attitudes toward disabled persons but that the resultant change decreases over time.