Promoting positive attitudes toward peers with disabilities: The role of information and imagined contact

This prepost test experimental study examined the effectiveness of an intervention providing information about peers with sensory disability, intellectual disability, and behavioral difficulties (cognitive intervention), an intervention using imagined contact with peers with these disabilities (behavioral intervention), and an intervention combining information with imagined contact, against a no-intervention control condition. One hundred and forty-two typically developing children were randomly assigned to 1 of the 4 conditions. Measures of attitudes, stereotypes, and feelings toward and intentions to engage in contact with peers with sensory disability, intellectual disability, and behavioral difficulties were administered. Results revealed that the combined cognitive and behavioral intervention improved all outcome variables considered. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Educational Impact and Implications Statement—This study focused on the improvement of elementary school students’ attitudes toward peers with disabilities. Its results suggest that it is important to provide positive information about the disabilities and strategies to encourage their participation in educational and extracurricular activities. Imaging interacting with peers with disabilities is also crucial. The combination of the 2 interventions (information about disability and imagination) allows to get stronger effects. These results can help to reduce negative attitudes toward students with disabilities and contribute to the construction of more inclusive school and social contexts.