Effect of the Writing System Used for a Japanese Word Meaning "People With Disabilities" on Attitudes Toward People With Physical Disabilities

In Japanese, various writing systems can be used for part of a word that means "people with disabilities". The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of the writing system used on attitudes toward people with physical disabilities. Undergraduate and graduate students completed questionnaires in which part of a word meaning "people with physical disabilities" was written in either hiragana or kanji. The effect of the writing system that was used on the participants' image of people with physical disabilities and their attitudes about interacting with such people was investigated. The results showed that when hiragana was used for writing part of the word, respect for people with physical disabilities improved among those students who had had prior contact with such people. However, there was no effect of the writing system on other aspects of their attitudes toward people with physical disabilities or on attitudes about interacting with them, nor on the attitudes of the students who had had no contact with people with physical disabilities.