How do I perceive my disabled colleague who benefits from a job accommodation?

Drawing on the conceptual models of Stone and Colella (1996) and Colella (2001), our research focuses on the professional inclusion of people with disabilities in the health sector. We were interested in how health professionals perceived their disabled colleagues. In a first study, we assessed whether the type of disability (motor vs. auditory vs. mental) had an influence on perceptions of competence, disruption, and control of the disability. In a second study, in addition to the type of disability, we assessed the influence of workstation design on social perceptions (i.e., competence, disruption) and on an aspect of distributive justice (e.g., salary). The results showed that the type of disability had an influence on workers’ perceptions. Health professionals perceived a colleague with a hearing impairment more positively than a colleague with a physical impairment and a colleague with a mental impairment. In addition, the presence of a job accommodation was perceived negatively, especially for people with mental disabilities.