Determinants of public’s acceptance towards people with disabilities involvement in physical activity / Aida Roha Abdul Rasid

Involvement in physical activity regularly for people with disabilities (PWD) has been shown to positively contribute to physical fitness, psychological health, personal development and quality of life. However, PWD often faced many obstacles to their involvement in physical activity, particularly acceptance by people without disabilities towards their involvement in physical activity. To further understand these issues of social acceptance, the present study aims to examine the factors that influence public acceptance towards PWD involvement in physical activity. An exploratory model of public acceptance was developed involving five key of antecedents identified from previous literature. The antecedents identified were personality, attitude, exposure, ethnicity and subjective norms. 460 responses were collected from people without disabilities, at four urban Public Recreational Parks located in Klang Valley. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach was used to analyze the data. The model showed good fit (χ2/df=2.10, p=.00, CFI=.901, RMSEA=.054, SRMR=.074) with the collected data. The finding indicated that, subjective norms (β=.360, p<.01) is the most important factor in influencing public acceptance followed by public attitude (β=.335, p<.01) and exposure (β=.112, p<.01). Meanwhile, personality traits (β=.031, p>.05) and ethnicity (β=.056, p>.05) did not have significant relationship with public acceptance. Results showed that attitude has mediating role in the relationship between external factors (ethnicity, exposure) and public acceptance. A pertinent contribution of the current study is the introduction of the extended model of public acceptance developed by integrating theory of reasoned action (TRA), big five model (BFM), contact theory and culture values theory which, contributed to better understanding of public acceptance towards PWD. Further understanding of these factors towards PWD involvement in physical activity is essential to promote social inclusion in creating a better community for the PWD. Hence, this study contributes to the body of knowledge as it provides validated instruments for future research.