Wojciech Otrębski, Aleksandra Chmielewska Institute of Psychology The John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland

 Around 200 million of disabled people worldwide experience disorders that affect their functioning and participation in social life (World Report on Disability, 2011).  Poland: 12.2% of the population (around 4.7 million); large differences across regions; highly diverse causes of disability (  Only about ¼ take up work, mainly on the sheltered employment market 2015-SGISD- Boston HR2

Conceptions of disability as defining the determinants of a disabled person’s success on the labor market:  Medical – to what extent it is possible to „repair a person”  Social – to what extent it is possible to „repair the physical work environment”  Biopsychosocial – how to facilitate the appriopriate interactions of personality and environmental factors (physical/social) 2015-SGISD- Boston HR3

 Stereotype – a social fact – a widely held and simplified opinion about certain social groups and phenomena (Walter Lippman, 1922).  Psychological perspective – an individual’s view of the world related to the individual’s other beliefs and attitudes as well as to his or her self-image, emotional life, and motivation for action (Kofta & Jasińska-Kania, 2001) SGISD- Boston HR4

 Stereotypes are a necessary condition of our functioning in the social world. (...) Their inevitability lies in the fact that they constitute a mechanism of processing social information, enabling cognitive efficiency in terms of the speed and automatism of judgments, decisions, and actions in the sphere of interpersonal relations.  As all notions, stereotypes are acquired in the process of socialization through a variety of social learning mechanisms, mainly through language acquisition.  What plays the key role in stereotype acquisition is being in a social environment whose members share various stereotypes and prejudices towards others (e.g. disabled).  Stereotypes are cognitive schemata that store information.  Stereotypes cannot be eliminated; it is only possible to speak of changing them. (Kurcz 2001) 2015-SGISD- Boston HR5

 Attitude is a relatively stable disposition towards various objects (Wojciszke, 2002).  Changes in the area of attitudes usually concern their intensity, not their sign SGISD- Boston HR6

The causes of wrong attitudes towards people with disability:  A fear of otherness,  A fear of these people’s dependence on others and inability to cope on their own,  Lack of knowledge,  Inability to behave in their company,  Stereotyping,  No experience of personal contact SGISD- Boston HR7

* The theoretical and empirical analyses carried out so far enable us to conclude that changes in attitudes towards other people are possible, and that they can be achieved through a modification of stereotypes or prejudices. * A key role in shaping attitudes is played by the mass media, but also by significant others and people of authority. Under the influence of people of authority, such as parents, teachers, or group leaders, we tend to be more willing to alter our attitudes to be more positive or more negative SGISD- Boston HR8

The objective of this study was to describe the diversity of ideas about and attitudes towards employees with disabilities that HR specialist hold and exhibit. The attitudes of HR specialists are a crucial factor affecting the successful employment of disabled job seekers SGISD- Boston HR9

10 Fig. 2. Sample age Company size: Small: N=30 E-D; N=30 E-A Medium: N=30 E-D; N=30 E-A Big: N=30 E-D; N=30 E-A N = 180 HR specialists in competitive employment

* Attitudes Towards Disabled People Scale – by A. E. Sękowski - consisting of 30 items rated on a Likert scale; the obtained scores can range between 0 and 180 (M = 90); the more positive attitudes a person exhibited, the higher they scored. Semantic Differential Scale – by C. E. Osgood - The scale consisted of 31 bipolar adjective pairs assessed on a seven-point semantic differential scale; it allowed us to describe the subjective semantic meanings of the concept of “an employee with disability.” Disability Knowledge Questionnaire – by M. Kulik and W. Otrębski (2011) – D-HR version statements (items) testing general, specific, stereotypical, and legal knowledge. The participant decides whether a given statement is true or false. The higher the score, the larger the knowledge SGISD- Boston HR11

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2015-SGISD- Boston HR13 Company E-D “+” Concetrated; Involved; Emotional; Friendly; Enterprising; “-” Egoistic; Avoiding contacts; Stupid; Suspicious; Rebellious Company E-A “-” Submissive; Irresponsible; Stupid; Ugly; Slow

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 Thanks to their experience, HR specialists from companies employing people with disability have significantly higher personal predispositions (attitudes, image, knowledge) to create a work environment conducive to the functioning of disabled people on the job market.  Company size seems to be a factor that to some extent differentiates HR specialists’ attitudes towards employees with disability and to a great extent differentiates the level of knowledge about disability. This is particularly visible in companies employing people with disability SGISD- Boston HR15

2015-SGISD- Boston HR16 Building proper relationships with employees, especially disabled ones, should first mean changing attitudes and the ways she/he see and assess them. Secondly, we need to seek similarities rather than differences between us and those whom we serve. This will contribute to better and more positive mutual relationships.

* As a result of the focus on individualized characteristics, the relationship assumes a personal character and the person is perceived as a unique individual rather than stereotypically. * Frequent contacts may facilitate an improvement in the attitude, particularly if certain conditions are fulfilled, e.g. achieving goals together or sharing similar values with the other person SGISD- Boston HR17