hest score was for one of the parents on the social model (M = 2.56), which was little more than the mid-point of the scale. The scores of the children are all below the mid-point value. Hence, even though it is more politically correct and socially desirable, the social model is not entirely convincing. The (Italian) cultural context does not seem, therefore, to be sufficiently strong to neutralize individual cognitive constraints. In addition, the results of the open- and closed-ended questionnaires suggest that the theory on disability can be learned: the growing children endorse parents’ explanations regarding diversity.
Parent’s Education about Diversity
Interestingly, the child’s age did not influence parental explanations of disability. Parents preferred to explain diversity and disability to their children by choosing from among expressions reflecting the biopsychosocial model (e.g., “We are all a bit different; differences much depend on where we are if we function as well or not”) (S2 File–Details of Measure). For parents, the disability (a person with a physical disability and a person with Down’s syndrome) did not appear to be a “special condition” when it was compared to other kinds of diversity (a boatload of migrants, two gay men kissing, and a pelican covered in oil) (S2 File Details of Measures). The only significant difference concerned the use of social model that appears to be preferred by parents when explaining situations of diversity with respect to human health conditions.
Furthermore, as we found in the closed-ended questionnaires, when the respondent was encouraged to choose from among different statements built on the three models (individual, social, biopsychosocial), the individual model lost salience compared to the social and biopsychosocial models. The individual model, as a cognitive organizer at an implicit level [4, 51], was overwhelmed by cultural constructs provided by the social-cultural context when the respondent accessed an explicit and reflexive thought.
The custom complex.
The complex of cultural elements, habits, interests, and activities of the children showed no significant differences between the two age groups of subjects. The cultural environment constructed by parents, mainly through the encouragement of certain interests or activities, was not different for the two groups, except for a greater pressure to engage in cultural activities carried out by parents of the older children. Instead, significant differences emerged on the levels of knowledge and stereotypes held by children. In both age groups, the level of knowledge about disability was higher than the levels of stereotypes. In addition, knowledge increased and stereotypes decreased with the age growing. This result is coherent with the studies that claim the origin of stereotypes toward people with disability is due to a cognitive immaturity [52, 53].
The typology of the beliefs
The analyses performed on the open- and closed-ended questionnaires showed the prevalence of one model (open-ended: individual model; closed-ended: social model) within and between groups. As group results obscure individual differences , it is not clear whether, for parents and children, half preferred individual model and half social model or whether most endorsed a mixed model (individual and social). For this reason, the composite measures allow one to investigate individual differences within groups in more detail. The composite measures built on the open-ended questionnaires showed that the vast majority of respondents firmly chose a singular model and not a mixed one. Almost all of the children preferred the individual model, whereas 50 percent of the parents preferred the individual model, 30 percent preferred the social model, and only 20 percent preferred the mixed model (individual and social). Results of the composite measures on the closed-ended questionnaires demonstrated that the mixed model was not preferred. In contrast to the open-ended questionnaire, a high percentage of respondents (≈ 70% children; ≈ 50% parents) did no