Social Judgment of People with a Disability in the Workplace

Abstract

This research investigates the social judgment of people with a disability in a professional context. In Study 1, participants without a disability were asked to rate people with a disability on scales measuring competence and warmth. In Study 2 individuals with and without a disability were asked to present themselves in such a way as to make the best possible impression on a potential employer. In a second round, they were asked to make the best possible impression assuming that they had (or did not have) a disability. As predicted, people with a disability were systematically presented as warm, but incompetent. This evaluation was observed in groups of people with and in those without a disability.