DeKalb, IL – Many American workers hide their disabilities, even though disclosure can benefit both the employee and employer. Now a new study identifies a simple way to make revealing a disability more likely—by subtly tweaking the language used in the response options on disclosure forms.
“For many employees, the term ‘disability’ does not reflect how they define their health, function and ability differences,” NIU Psychology Professor Alecia Santuzzi says.
The study, led by Northern Illinois University Psychology Professor Alecia Santuzzi, found significantly more disclosures when reporting a “qualifying condition” as compared to reporting a “disability.”
“The manipulation of a single term on the disclosure form can increase reporting of disabilities,” Santuzzi said. “This effect was particularly pronounced for employees with psychological and invisible limitations, although disclosures were generally greater for a ‘qualifying condition’ across types of disability.”
Santuzzi, along with her former NIU Ph.D. students Robert Keating and Jesus Martinez, published their findings recently in the journal Group & Organization Management.
Organizations collect disability-related information from employees to meet legislative requirements, foster inclusion and respond to employee needs. Disclosure can lead to the development of a more supportive work environment, which facilitates better job performance and improved employee well-being.
But for a variety of reasons—including the stigma associated with disability—there are likely many more employees with disabilities than those who disclose at work.
A 2016 survey among white-collar U.S. workers, for example, showed that about 30% had health conditions that could qualify for protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act, yet less than 4% of employees disclosed to human resources. The uncertainty about the prevalence of disability makes it difficult for employers, researchers and policy developers to be aware of employee disabilities and take appropriate actions to support them.
Building off past qualitative research in their lab, Santuzzi and colleagues surmised that an employee would be more likely to disclose a limitation if a replacement term for “disability” was used on the disclosure form.
To test the hypothesis, nearly 1,600 employed adults from an online panel were randomly asked to complete one of four versions of the Voluntary Self-identification of Disability (VSID), a disclosure form frequently used by U.S. employers and required for use by federal contractors. All versions of the form provided the same background information, including the definition of disability as described in the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990, as amended in 2008).
On the original form, three self-disclosure options were provided:
- Yes, I have a disability.
- No, I don’t have a disability.
- I do not wish to answer.
On that form, 20% of all respondents self-disclosed a disability. But when the word “disability” was replaced with “qualifying condition,” the disclosure rate jumped to 29%. (Two other response options with terms replacing “disability” also elicited higher rates of disclosure, though they were not statistically significant.)
Importantly, adjusted response options had the greatest impact on employees who had reported psychological as compared to physical or cognitive limitations on a separate health screening. Only 41% of employees with psychological limitations disclosed them when the VSID form response options used “disability.” This increased to 59% when the term was replaced with “qualifying condition.”
“Terms such as ‘qualifying condition’ may cue respondents to think more broadly about limitations that might affect work performance and then perhaps disclose these limitations even if they do not adopt the label ‘disability,’ ” Santuzzi said. “Even if employees greatly value their disability as part of their identity, many employees use different terms to express that part of themselves in the workplace.”
The researchers believe that providing alternative response options might reduce the impact of uncertainty about disability definitions, eliminate the need for individuals to adopt disability as a social identity, and remove some concerns about disability stigma that interfere with disclosure.
“Disclosure is an opportunity for employees to present a more authentic version of themselves at work, which may bring psychological benefits in supportive work environments,” Santuzzi said. “Authenticity cannot be experienced if employees are not given the opportunity to report in a way that aligns with how they define themselves. For many employees, the term ‘disability’ does not reflect how they define their health, function and ability differences.”
Media Contact: Tom Parisi
About NIU
Northern Illinois University is a student-centered, nationally recognized public research university, with expertise that benefits its region and spans the globe in a wide variety of fields, including the sciences, humanities, arts, business, engineering, education, health and law. Through its main campus in DeKalb, Illinois, and education centers for students and working professionals in Chicago, Naperville, Oregon and Rockford, NIU offers more than 100 areas of study while serving a diverse and international student body.
