Public Attitudes Toward People With Intellectual Disabilities: A Cross-Cultural Study

This study investigated attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities among the general Hong Kong Chinese population and compared these to a White British sample, using the Community Living Attitudes Scale Mental Retardation form (CLAS-MR; D. Henry, C. Keys, F. Balcazar, & D. Jopp, 1996). As predicted, attitudes among the Hong Kong Chinese public (n = 149) were less favorable than the British sample (n = 135). The former were less opposed to the exclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, less likely to view them as similar to themselves and more in favor of sheltering such individuals. Of all demographic variables examined, ethnicity was the strongest predictor of attitudes, although it only accounted for a small part of the variance in attitudes. The results are discussed in terms of policy implementation and additional research.