Organizations collect disability-related information from employees to meet legislative requirements, foster inclusion, and respond to employee needs. However, there are likely more employees with disabilities than those who disclose at work. We tested whether altering the response option language on a disclosure form would increase disability disclosures, and whether increases differed by disability type and visibility. Employed adults were asked to identify as having a “disability,” “qualifying impairment,” “qualifying condition,” or “qualifying disability.” Results showed more disclosures when reporting a “qualifying condition” compared to a “disability,” especially among employees with a psychological or invisible disability. The manipulation of a single term on the disclosure form can increase reporting of disabilities, providing an evidence-based step to support inclusive organizational practices.
AguinisH.BradleyK. J. (2014). Best practice recommendations for designing and implementing experimental vignette methodology studies. Organizational Research Methods, 17(4), 351–371. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428114547952
AndrewsE. E.Forber-PrattA. J. (2022). Disability culture, identity, and language. In The positive psychology of personal factors: Implications for understanding disability (pp. 27–40). Rowman & Littlefield.
5.
AndrewsE. E.Forber-PrattA. J.MonaL. R.LundE. M.PilarskiC. R.BalterR. (2019). # SaytheWord: A disability culture commentary on the erasure of “disability”. Rehabilitation Psychology, 64(2), 111–118. https://doi.org/10.1037/rep0000258
6.
BossonJ. K.WeaverJ. R.Prewitt-FreilinoJ. L. (2012). Concealing to belong, revealing to be known: Classification expectations and self-threats among persons with concealable stigmas. Self and Identity, 11(1), 114–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2010.513508
7.
BrewerM. B.GardnerW. (1996). Who is this “we”? Levels of collective identity and self representations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71(1), 83–93. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.71.1.83
8.
ColellaA.SantuzziA. (2022). Known and unknown mental illness: Uncovering the multiple routes to workplace inequities. Journal of Management, 50(3), 898–927. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063221111758
9.
DalginR. S.GilbrideD. (2003). Perspectives of people with psychiatric disabilities on employment disclosure. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 26(3), 306–310. https://doi.org/10.2975/26.2003.306.310
10.
FollmerK. B.JonesK. S. (2018). Mental illness in the workplace: An interdisciplinary review and organizational research agenda. Journal of Management, 44(1), 325–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206317741194
11.
HewlinP. F. (2009). Wearing the cloak: Antecedents and consequences of creating facades of conformity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(3), 727–741. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015228
12.
JetteA. M.BadleyE. (2000). Conceptual issues in the measurement of work disability. In MathiowetzN.WunderlichG. S. (Eds.), Survey measurement of work disability: Summary of a workshop (pp. 4–27). National Academy Press.
13.
LindsayS.OstenV.RezaiM.BuiS. (2021). Disclosure and workplace accommodations for people with autism: A systematic review. Disability & Rehabilitation, 43(5), 597–610. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2019.1635658
14.
LitmanL.RobinsonJ.AbberbockT. (2017). TurkPrime.com: A versatile crowdsourcing data acquisition platform for the behavioral sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 49(2), 433–442. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-016-0727-z
15.
McCreaS. M.WieberF.MyersA. L. (2011, November 7). Construal level mind-sets moderate self- and social stereotyping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(1), 51–68. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026108
16.
MulvanyJ. (2000). Disability, impairment or illness? The relevance of the social model of disability to the study of mental disorder. Sociology of Health & Illness, 22(5), 582–601. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.00221
QuinnD. M.ChaudoirS. R. (2009). Living with a concealable stigmatized identity: The impact of anticipated stigma, centrality, salience, and cultural stigma on psychological distress and health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97(4), 634–651. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015815
19.
RobersonQ. M.StevensC. K. (2006). Making sense of diversity in the workplace: Organizational justice and language abstraction in employees’ accounts of diversity-related incidents. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 379–391. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.91.2.379
20.
SantuzziA. M.KeatingR. T. (2020). Managing invisible disabilities in the workplace: Identification and disclosure dilemmas for workers with hidden impairments. In The Palgrave handbook of disability at work (pp. 331–349). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42966-9_19
21.
SantuzziA. M.KeatingR. T.MartinezJ. J.FinkelsteinL. M.RuppD. E.StrahN. (2019). Identity management strategies for workers with concealable disabilities: Antecedents and consequences. Journal of Social Issues, 75(3), 847–880. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12320
22.
SantuzziA. M.WaltzP. R. (2016). Disability in the workplace: A unique and variable identity. Journal of Management, 42(5), 1111–1135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206315626269
23.
SantuzziA. M.WaltzP. R.FinkelsteinL. M.RuppD. E. (2014). Invisible disabilities: Unique challenges for employees and organizations. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 7(2), 204–219. https://doi.org/10.1111/iops.12134
von SchraderS.MalzerV.BruyèreS. (2014). Perspectives on disability disclosure: The importance of employer practices and workplace climate. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 26(4), 237–255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-013-9227-9
26.
WatsonN. (2002). Well, I know this is going to sound very strange to you, but I don’t see myself as a disabled person: Identity and disability. Disability & Society, 17(5), 509–527. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687590220148496
