Authoritarianism,Attitudes toward Blindness,and Managers: Implications for the Employment of Blind Persons

Abstract

Some employers express positive attitudes toward the capabilities of blind persons, yet are unwilling to hire them. One factor which may help to explain this reluctance is the authoritarian personality characteristics of employers. High authoritarians tend to hold more negative attitudes toward the blind and they also hold or aspire to important decision- and policy-making positions in organizations. Thus, organizations in our economic system may foster the development or promotion of persons who are most likely to hold negative attitudes toward blind persons to positions where decisions and policies on hiring the blind are made. The empirical literature exploring the relationships among these variables is reviewed and areas of needed research are suggested.