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Job Interview Strategies For People with a Visible Disability 1
Author(s) -
Tagalakis Vicki,
Amsel Rhonda,
Fichten Catherine S.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1988.tb00033.x
Subject(s) - wheelchair , psychology , telephone interview , sympathy , face (sociological concept) , social psychology , job interview , applied psychology , face to face , computer science , social science , philosophy , epistemology , sociology , world wide web
A total of 117 students participated in the present investigation, which compared wheelchair‐user and able‐bodied job applicants as well as two interview‐taking strategies available to wheelchair users: disclosing the disability during the telephone screening or not doing so and acknowledging it only during a face‐to‐face interview. Results show that wheelchair‐user applicants were evaluated more favorably than able‐bodied applicants during the telephone interview, a finding consistent with the positivity bias and “sympathy effect” findings of others. After a face‐to‐face interview, wheelchair‐user applicants who did not disclose their disability over the telephone were evaluated somewhat more favorably than those who did so. However, they were less likely to be selected for the job. The implications of the results for theory, research, and practice are discussed.