A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLE OF DIFFERENTIAL COMPLEXITY AND RESPONSE STYLE IN MEASURING ATTITUDES TOWARD PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

This report investigated a potentially complex relationship between co gnitive complexity and attitudes towards people with disabilities in a 3-part study using two undergraduate student samples. In Study 1 (n = 126), subjects' responses to the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Sc ale (ATDP-O) were not significantly correlated with the Repertory Grid Test (RGT). This finding suggests no relationship between attitudes a nd a generic measure of cognitive complexity. In Study 2 (n = 57), sub jects' responses to the ATDP-O were positively correlated with a disab ility-specific repertory grid technique. This finding suggests an inve rse relationship between domain-specific cognitive complexity and posi tive attitudes. In Study 3, findings from Study I were reanalyzed. Sub jects' responses to the ATDP-O were transformed using a repertory grid scoring technique; significant correlations were found between the te ndency of subjects to respond redundantly and positive attitudes as me asured by the ATDP-O, and the tendency to respond redundantly and lowe r cognitive complexity as measured by the RGT. These findings suggest that a large group of individuals who process information by focusing on differences, rather than similarities, may be inappropriately asses sed by the ATDP, or other instruments that use a similar format in ass essing attitudes.