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Stigma and Acceptance of Persons With Disabilities

Understudied Aspects of Workforce Diversity

Pennsylvania State University, mem{at}psu.edu

Myrtle P. Bell

University of Texas at Arlington

Donna Y. Stringer

University of Texas at Arlington

Although persons with disabilities compose a growing portion of workers, when compared with other aspects of diversity (e.g., race/ethnicity or gender), disability has received relatively little research attention. In a between-subjects experimental design with more than 600 participants, we evaluated the roles of disability type (AIDS, cerebral palsy, and stroke), stigma, and employee characteristics in acceptance of a coworker with a disability. Stigma largely mediated the relationship between disability type and acceptance. Employee characteristics had direct effects on some aspects of acceptance. Exploratory factor analysis of stigma revealed six factors; however, only a "performance impact" factor was consistently related to acceptance, suggesting that perceived implications of the coworker’s disability for job performance are critical.

Key Words: disability and work • stigma • disability acceptance • stigma measures

Group & Organization Management, Vol. 29, No. 3, 302-333 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1059601103257410


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