Rethinking the disability-type hierarchy of peer attitudes toward inclusive physical education

Abstract

Problem Statement. Peer attitudes are a critical determinant of successful inclusion in physical education (PE). The disability-type hierarchy documented extensively in Western samples derives from between-subjects designs that confound attitudinal variation with individual differences, and from high-income Western countries, leaving cultural and contextual factors largely unexplored. Approach. This study provides the first within-subjects, multi-disability attitudinal profile of secondary-school students in inclusive PE. A total of 195 Moroccan secondary-school students (62.1% female; 59.0% urban) each evaluated four parallel vignettes adapted from the Children's Attitudes Toward Integrated Physical Education-Revised (CAIPE-R), describing classmates with Physical Disability (PD), Visual Impairment (VI), Intellectual Disability (ID), and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Confirmatory factor analyses supported a unidimensional five-item structure for each subscale, and measurement invariance across moderator groups was supported at the metric and scalar levels. Purpose. The study tested whether the standardised Western hierarchy generalises to the Moroccan context and whether it is moderated by gender, zone, prior personal contact, prior inclusive PE experience, and age. Results. A one-way repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant main effect of disability type, F(2.79, 541.62) = 7.54, p < .001, partial η² = .037. Bonferroni-adjusted comparisons described a two-tier hierarchy, PD ≥ ASD > ID ≥ VI, diverging from the strict ordinal pattern reported in Western samples: ASD was statistically indistinguishable from PD, while VI occupied the least favourable position. The hierarchy's shape was robust across gender, zone, prior inclusive PE experience, and age, but was moderated by prior personal contact, F(3, 579) = 4.40, p = .004, partial η² = .022, which attenuated the disability-type gradient; overall attitude level was independently higher among urban students. Conclusions. These findings challenge the presumed universality of categoryprototypicality and visibility-salience accounts and point toward culturally contingent mechanisms shaping peer attitudes, with direct implications for disability-specific sensitisation programmes and contact-based teacher training in Morocco and the wider MENA region.