Abstract:

The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale toward Persons with Disabilities – MAS in university students. In total, one hundred sixty five participants were recruited from four different universities. The internal consistent reliability and convergent validity of the total scale and subscales were examined and confirmatory factor analysis was carried out. Cronbach’s Alpha as for the Turkish version of the total scale of MAS, Affection, Cognition and Behavior subscale were 0.90, 0.88, 0.89 and 0.84, respectively. In the confirmatory factor analysis, three factors (Affection, Cognition and Behavior) confirmed the unitary factors structure found in original form, but three items removed, explaining % 49.19 of total variance in attitudes toward disable people (X2/df=1.55, RMSEA=0.05, CFI=0.91, IFI=0.91 and GFI=0.80). Convergent validity was confirmed by positive relationship between the Turkish version of MAS and attitude towards people with disability scale (0.38 for total scale, 0.11 for affect, 0.50 for cognition and 0.36 for behavior). The Turkish version of the MAS was acceptable to be a reliable and valid measure of attitudes toward people with disability in university students.

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