The development and psychometric validation of the disability attitude implicit association test

Objectives: Develop and validate the Disability Attitude Implicit Association Test (DA-IAT). Participants: Two hundred twenty-three rehabilitation counseling students. Outcome Measures: DA-IAT, Attitude Toward Disabled Persons Scale, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale, Internal and External Motivation to Respond Without Prejudice Toward People With Disabilities Scales, Contact With Disabled Persons Scale, and demographics. Results: DA-IAT congruent associations (disability plus negative-nondisabled plus positive) occurred more frequently than incongruent associations (disability plus positive-nondisabled plus negative). DA-IAT had no relationship with the Attitude Toward Disabled Persons Scale, an explicit attitude measure. Demographics did not predict DA-IAT scores. Contact with Disabled Persons Scale was the dominant predictor for the DA-IAT. Conclusions: The DA-IAT has the potential to become a useful measure of implicit group disability attitudes on the basis of experience versus belief.