A meta-analysis of experimental studies on the effects of disability on human resource judgments
Section snippets
Main effects of disability on HR judgments
Consistent with the ADA (1990), we use the general definition of disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities for the target. Research about the effects of disability has come from multiple disciplines, such as social psychology, sociology, and rehabilitation psychology, and there have been mixed results across and within fields with regard to the empirical examination of discrimination against people with disabilities in the
Moderating effects of study characteristics
The mixed empirical results regarding discrimination against people with disabilities may also be caused by the presence of differing characteristics in the studies (Colella & Stone, 2005). We therefore expect that some study characteristics would serve as potential moderators to explain the relationship between disabilities and HR judgments. More specifically, we focus on the moderating effects of the types of disabilities being compared, the sex of the target, and whether the experimental
Methods
The purpose of this study is to examine the mixed effects of disability on HR judgments in the workplace as well as to investigate some potential moderators to explain what are sometimes ambiguous results. In other words, we are only interested in examining research that explicitly examined discrimination against people with disabilities regarding workplace HR judgments (i.e., hiring decisions, performance evaluations, and performance expectations).
Results
Hypothesis 1, Hypothesis 1, Hypothesis 1 stated that there would be an overall positive effect of disability on performance evaluations and an overall negative effect of disability on performance expectations and hiring decisions. As Table 3 indicates, there were significant negative effects of disability on two dependent measures. The overall effect sizes for performance expectations and hiring decisions were clearly negative. Each of their mean effect sizes was negative (− 0.14 for performance
Discussion
In general, our hypothesized predictions were largely supported in the experimental studies that we analyzed. There were clear negative effects for disability on performance expectations and hiring decisions, consistent with these HR judgments reflecting forward-looking, predictive measures, anticipating not only how the person with a disability will perform but also predictions of “fit” with the position and/or organization. Thus, these results may stem from perceptions of the individual with
Conclusion
We expect this meta-analysis to generate new directions for future research on disability discrimination in the workplace. The number of studies in this area is increasing and the field remains a promising one. The ADA should have the potential to decrease or even eliminate many forms of workplace discrimination against people with disabilities. The realization of this objective requires commitment and effort of all individuals, organizations, and the government.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to acknowledge a Mays Summer Research Grant as providing partial funding for this research.
References (87)
Epilepsy and employment-employers' attitudes
Seizure
(1995)- et al.
Discrimination towards disabled people seeking employment
Social Science & Medicine
(1992) The “file drawer problem” and tolerance for null results
Psychological Bulletin
(1979)- et al.
Hiring bias and the disabled interviewee: effects of manipulating work history and disability information of the disabled job applicant
Journal of Vocational Behavior
(1980) - et al.
Stigmas in organizations: race, handicaps, and physical unattractiveness
- Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 1990. P. L....
Evaluation of a task partner who does or does not have a physical disability: response amplification or sympathy effect?
Rehabilitation Psychology
(1991)- et al.
The effects of past psychiatric disability on employer evaluation of a job applicant
Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling
(1981) - et al.
Attribution of responsibility and predicted social acceptance of disabled workers
Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin
(1987) - et al.
Work life for employees with disabilities: recommendations for promotion
Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin
(1997)
Attitudes towards disabled persons: social distance and work competence
Journal of Rehabilitation
Disability employment policies and practices in private and federal sector organizations
Comparative study of workplace policy and practices contributing to disability nondiscrimination
Rehabilitation Psychology
The changing economic condition of the disabled: A two decade review of economic well-being
Managers' beliefs about and attitudes toward the American with Disabilities Act of 1990
Applied H.R.M. Research
Attitudes toward people with disabilities and judgments of employment potential
Perceptual and Motor Skills
Coworker distributive fairness judgments of the workplace accommodation of employees with disabilities
Academy of Management Review
The impact of ratee's disability on performance judgments and choice as partner: the role of disability-job fit stereotypes and interdependence of rewards
Journal of Applied Psychology
Factors affecting coworkers' procedural justice inferences of the workplace accommodations of employees with disabilities
Personnel Psychology
Workplace discrimination toward persons with disabilities: a call for some new research directions
Disability-job fit stereotypes and the evaluation of persons with disabilities at work
Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation
The impact of subordinate disability on leader-member exchange relationships
Academy of Management Journal
Accommodation of disabled people into employment: perceptions of employers
Journal of Rehabilitation
Employment potential of persons with mild intellectual impairments
Canadian Journal of Rehabilitation
On the stigma of mental illness: practical strategies for research and social change
Barriers to employment: a survey of employed persons who are visually impaired
Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness
Effects of emotional disability and clear performance standards on performance ratings
Academy of Management Journal
Employer concerns about hiring persons with psychiatric disability: results of the employer attitude questionnaire
Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin
Employment interviewer reactions to former mental patients
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Reactions of workers to male and female mental patient job applicants
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
Mental illness and the impact of believing others know about it
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
The influence of perceived mental illness on interpersonal relations
Journal of Abnormal Psychology
Trait attributions about college students with a physical disability: circumplex analyses and methodological issues
Journal of Applied Social Psychology
“Let the wheelchair through!”: an intergroup approach to interability communication
Interability communication: evaluating patronizing encounters
Journal of Language and Social Psychology
A comparison of employer attitudes toward the worker problems of eight types of disabled workers
Journal of Applied Rehabilitation Counseling
Employment discrimination against handicapped job applicants: an analog study of the effects of neurological causation, visibility of handicap, and public contact
Rehabilitation Psychology
Employer concerns regarding workers with disabilities and the business-rehabilitation partnership: the PWI practitioners' perspective
Journal of Rehabilitation
Antidiscrimination laws and social research on disability: the minority group perspective
Behavioral Sciences & the Law
Cited by (132)
Employer-focused interventions targeting disability employment: A systematic review
2024, Social Science and MedicinePerceptions of Federal Workplace Attributes: Interactions Among Disability, Sex, and Military Experience
2024, Journal of Disability Policy StudiesEffectiveness of a career intervention for improving career-related outcomes in higher education students with disabilities
2023, Journal of Employment CounselingAssistive technology’s potential to improve employment of people with disabilities
2023, Research SquareLong-term scarring from institutional labelling: The risk of NEET of students from schools for learning disability in Germany
2023, Acta Sociologica (United Kingdom)
- 1
Tel.: +1 979 845 0926.
- 2
Present address: Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, 7 McAlister Drive, New Orleans , LA 70118, USA. Tel.: +1 504 865 5308.