A psychometric re-analysis of the interaction with disabled persons scale

Drawing upon existing theory and research on attitudes towards people with disabilities, Gething (1991) used Australian samples to develop the Interac tion with Disabled Persons (IDP) Scale, which reflects four key attitude co mponents (e.g., fear of becoming disabled). The IDP scale was used with a s ample of 231 Canadian management undergraduates to examine the mp scale's p sychometric properties; to test Gething's (1994) six-factor model; and to t est MacLean and Gannon's (1995) two-factor model using confirmatory factor analysis. Overall, the findings did not support the six- or two-factor mode ls. There was poor to moderate internal consistency reliability for most sc ales, and small social desirability effects. These results show that furthe r refinement to the IDP scale is required to improve its factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and to minimize correlations with social desirability.