Social Acceptance and Leisure Lifestyles of People with Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social acceptance and the leisure lifestyle (frequency, satisfaction, and intentions of participation) of people with disabilities. Individuals with (n = 39) and without (n = 257) disabilities who were enrolled in inclusive leisure programs completed self-report surveys. Using a Spearman's Rho Correlation and descriptive statistics to analyze data, statistically significant relationships were found between perceived social acceptance by people with disabilities and (a) frequency of leisure participation, (b) social satisfaction, and (c) reported social acceptance by people without disabilities. These findings are important since perceptions of social acceptance by people with disabilities may be a critical element for these individuals to experience satisfying and frequent inclusive leisure experiences. Specifically, social acceptance may be related to society's response to people with disabilities and be more obvious in leisure versus work settings.