Investigating the effect of social rejection and self-efficacy on the tendency of disabled people to travel (case study: disabled people of Babolsar city

Theorists argue that disability is a form of social oppression and exclusion, and disabled people experience considerable inequality in all dimensions of social life. Education, health, employment, housing and transportation are among these inequalities. Although disabled people are very interested in tourism activities, they do not travel much because of the unpleasant negative experiences they have during vacations and trips. The conditions for the travel of disabled people should be provided. Such as infrastructural facilities, accommodation and transportation. Social conditions such as family companionship, job, income, and physical and medical conditions of disabled people also affect the motivation and desire to travel. The suitability of the place of residence, transportation facilities, access and services at the destination should also be compatible with the needs of the disabled. The status of social exclusion of disabled people and how it is distributed among them is one of the important issues of social studies of disability and social justice. In this descriptive-analytical research, the effects of social exclusion dimensions on the tendency of disabled people to travel were investigated.

This review was done with a quantitative method using documental studies and survey. The statistical population includes 2103 disabled people of Babolsar city, and using Cochran's formula, 325 people were selected as a statistical sample by random sampling method. A questionnaire was used to collect data. Content validity was used to check the validity of the questionnaire. In order to check the validity of the content, necessary consultations were conducted with professors in the field of tourism, and according to them, the proposed problems were corrected, and in the re-survey, it was ensured that the questionnaire has the necessary validity. To measure reliability, a sample of 30 people completed the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to measure reliability, which was equal to 0.75. The operational definition of the components of social exclusion has been modeled on the studies conducted by Sebaktin Rizi and Mouszadeh (2016) and Khodakarmian Gilan and others (2019). The reliability of this scale was more than 0.80 in the study of Sobaktekin Rizi and Mouszadeh and 0.79 in the study of Khodakarmian Gilan and others (2019). These two studies have used the verified scale of Hoff and Vrooman (2011), which includes 24 items and has been operationalized in the form of four dimensions of social participation, normative integrity, access to social rights, and material deprivation. In this study, these four components of travel and tourism related documents have been used. The reliability value of self-efficacy was determined using Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.83. The analysis was done in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics and with SPSS software.

The average tendency to travel is 2.97 of 5, which indicates the low level of tendency of disabled people to travel. The average feeling of self-efficacy, social participation and normative integrity is also at the average level. According to the average, the feeling of material deprivation (4.07 of 5) of disabled people is at a high level, and on the other hand, the average access to social rights (2.03 of 5) shows the low access of disabled people to social rights. The findings indicate that the tendency of disabled people to travel, feeling of material deprivation and access to social rights are at a lower-than-average level, and social participation, normative integration and sense of self-efficacy are at an average level. Social participation and feeling of self-efficacy had a positive effect on the tendency of disabled people to travel. In other words, by increasing social participation and improving the sense of self-efficacy, disabled people tend to travel more. On the other hand, normative integrity, feeling of material deprivation and access to social rights did not affect the tendency to travel. Bivariate analyzes also indicated that there is no significant difference in the tendency of disabled people to travel according to gender, marital status, age, education, type of disability.

Self-efficacy has the greatest relationship with intention, so that if a person believes that she/he can successfully perform an adaptive behavior, there is a high probability that she/he will take action. According to this opinion, the belief of disabled people that they can go on a trip and enjoy the trip increases their intention to go on a trip and use related services. But if they overestimate the costs of such work. Such as understanding the negative attitude of the society, the feeling of shame, the feeling of helplessness, the financial expenses and the lack of proper facilities, the sense of self-efficacy and effectiveness decreases in them. They become isolated because they think that being alone and distancing themselves from others can protect them from the social stigma of disability.To remove attitudinal barriers and participation, it is necessary to increase public awareness in social and support institutions and recognize the right of disabled people to establish social relations and participate in the public domain. Also, it is necessary not to consider only the problem of the physically disabled and medical and rehabilitation approaches should be aligned with social and cultural approaches. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to ensure the required foundations in the form of psychological, human and structural conditions, and take necessary measures to improve the conditions.This study provides a more distinct picture of the dimensions of social exclusion of the disabled and its effect on the tendency to travel and tourism. Disabled people are not very familiar with their social rights and are only supported by their families.Since tourism can be effective in strengthening mental health and their return to the society, providing the ground for people's organizations of the disabled and providing the ground for the tourism of the disabled as one of the new tourism markets should be given more attention.