Age and Assessments of Disability Accommodation Request Normative Appropriateness

Abstract

In the United States, the labor force continues to age. As age increases, so does the likeliness of needing disability accommodation. Prior research indicates that people with disabilities often do not request needed accommodations when they assess that others at work would perceive a request as normatively inappropriate. Little, however, is currently known about the impact of age on these assessments. In this study, we integrate prior research on age, disability, social identity, and climate to propose and then test a model of the relationship between requesters’ age and their normative assessments using survey data from 242 people who became hearing impaired prior to entering the workforce. As hypothesized, requester age was negatively associated with normative appropriateness assessment favorability. Moreover, this negative influence was stronger in for‐profit organizational contexts and in workgroup contexts in which the requester lacked a coworker with a disability. Having a coworker with a similar disability also partially mediated the moderating effect of organization type on the association between age and normative appropriateness assessment favorability. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

On the treatment of persons with disabilities in organizations: A review and research agenda

“…For example, Baldridge and Veiga () investigated how persons with hearing disabilities decide to request accommodations based on their assessment of the likelihood of compliance, normative beliefs, and anticipated psychosocial consequences, with greater monetary costs and impositions on others negatively influencing these assessments. Baldridge and Swift (, ) extended this research by examining the interaction between employee attributes (age, gender, disability severity, and onset age), organizational/workplace characteristics (having coworkers with disabilities, for‐profit organization context), and psychological assessments and behavioral responses of the employee with a disability. Similarly, Dong, Fabian, and Xu () found individuals' self‐efficacy, outcome expectancy, and positive affect increase the willingness of employees with disabilities to request accommodation.…”

Is There a Downside of Job Accommodations? An Employee Perspective on Individual Change Processes

“…However, there has been surprisingly little research from the perspective of the primary actors in the accommodation process, i.e., employees with disabilities themselves (Balser and Harris, 2008 ). As one important exception, Baldridge and colleagues (Baldridge and Veiga, 2001 , 2006 ; Baldridge and Swift, 2013 , 2015 ) as well as Davison et al ( 2009 ) considered the perspective of employees with disabilities and systematically examined their tendency to request accommodations. Specifically, these studies focused on identifying factors that prevent employees with disabilities from requesting future job accommodations.…”

The employment of individuals with hearing impairment in the KwaZulu-Natal private sector: Current employers’ perceptions and experiences

“…Additionally, Baldridge and Swift (2016) suggested human resource professionals and management are essential for fostering work environments that are supportive and encourage understanding amongst co-workers. Similarly, Miceli et al (2002) suggested that a key intervention strategy is disability sensitisation workshops, the purpose being to increase awareness relating to disability, alter attitudes towards disability, overcome communication barriers and equip employers with the necessary skills and tools to do so.…”