Who’s disclosing? Examining the influence of mental disability identity management and social status in hiring | Work in Progress Seminar with Dan Samosh

The seminar will run on Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 878 9045 7898

Passcode: 423227

Job candidates with disabilities often encounter stigma that negatively impacts their access to employment. In order to mitigate the detrimental effects of stigma, these job candidates can employ identity management strategies when disclosing their disability. Although researchers have begun to examine how such strategies influence observer perceptions and behavioural intentions, we know little about the effectiveness of these strategies for job candidates with mental disabilities, or about their boundary conditions. Thus, in this research we build and test theory on mental disability, strategic disclosure, and social status in hiring. Specifically, we draw from socio-cognitive and intersectional theory to unpack the mechanisms that link strategic mental disability disclosure with hiring intention. We argue that these relationships are contingent on the social status of the disclosing job candidate, and we test our hypotheses with an experiment including 268 participants. Overall, this research sheds light upon the influence, mechanisms, and limits of identity management for job candidates with mental disabilities.