The effects of attribution of responsibility and work history on perceptions of reasonable accommodations.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers must provide employees with disabilities reasonable accommodations that will enable them to perform job duties, as long as the accommodations do not financially burden the organization. Two studies were conducted to investigate whether disability origin and/or prior work history impermissibly influence the granting of reasonable accommodations under the ADA. In both studies, participants granted more accommodations for employees whose disability was caused by some external factor than for those whose disability was caused by the employee's own behavior. In Study Two, participants also granted more and costlier accommodations for an employee with an excellent work history than for an employee with an average work history. Implications of the use of extralegal factors in accommodation decisions are discussed.
Mitchell
Tara L
TL
Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA. tmitchell@lhup.edu
Kovera
Margaret Bull
MB
D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001107:Architectural Accessibility; D001290:Attitude; D015984:Causality; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D004651:Employment / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D016832:Employment, Supported; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007587:Job Description; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009657:North Carolina; D011287:Prejudice; D012938:Social Perception; D012941:Social Responsibility; D013022:South Carolina; D013240:Stereotyping; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017132:Workplace / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology