Testing the contact hypothesis: improving college students' affective attitudes toward people with disabilities created by Virginia B. Wickline, Tricia Neu, Chad P. Dodge, Edwin R. Shriver (Author)

Previous research suggests that high quality contact between people from different groups is a relatively consistent way of decreasing stereotypes and prejudices. The authors determined that a very short-term, service-learning project with people with developmental disabilities (DD) could reduce college students' fear of this population. In addition, previous contact through friendships with people with disabilities was associated with greater empathy for and less discomfort with people with DD, even after taking students' comfort level with people in general into account. Taken together, the study results show the importance of interacting with people with DD for improving attitudes and reducing stigma toward this population and suggests a specific strategy that college professors can use in their classrooms to facilitate positive social change in their students and communities.