Korean College Students’ Attitudes toward Disability and Inclusive Education: Latent Profile Analysis

The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in cognitive-behavioral attitudes and emotional connectedness toward people with disabilities (PWDs) and the attitudes toward inclusive education. In total, 309 college students from various universities in South Korea aged from 18 to 29 years (177 male and 130 female) voluntarily participated in this study. The participants were completed a set of questionnaires: Social Distance Toward Disabilities scale, Interaction with Disabled Person Scale, and Teachers’ Attitudes toward Inclusive Education Scale. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to model four distinct types: distant (3.56%), lukewarm (73.91%), rationalizing (8.41%), and potential proactive (14.12%). The majority of participants were lukewarm type who had a slightly cognitive-behavioral distance with mediocre empathy toward PWDs, which links to vague stands toward inclusive education. Potential proactive type, the second largest group, showed a positive attitude toward inclusive education with a high level of empathy but still had ambivalent perceptions toward PWDs. The rationalizing and distant groups had one thing in common that they had a relatively low level of empathy toward PWDs, but showed a markedly opposite position in inclusive education. The findings indicate that interventions should be tailored based on the type-specific attitudes and experiences with PWDs in public and educational settings.