Multi-stakeholder perspectives on barriers to finding a job for individuals with an intellectual disability : applying actor-observer theory : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
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Date
2018
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Massey University
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Abstract
This research examined the perceived barriers to finding a job for individuals with an
intellectual disability from the perspectives of three key stakeholders on an “actor-observer”
(A-O) continuum: potential employees with an intellectual disability (actors), potential
employers (observers) and employment specialists (in-between), who specialise in finding
jobs for individuals with an intellectual disability. These participants made attributions for
successful and unsuccessful job applications, exploring the possibility that dispositional
attributions (e.g. lack of skills) by observers will be the predominant barrier to workplace
inclusion.
Using Flanagan’s critical incident technique, successful employment and unsuccessful
unemployment stories were collected from employees with an intellectual disability (n=30),
employers (n=13) and employment specialists (n=22). When employees with an intellectual
disability were unsuccessful in finding a job, these employees (actors) attributed situational
factors such as negative attributions by the employer. Whilst employers (observers) tended
more to blame dispositional factors, such as a lack of skills from employees with intellectual
disabilities as the reason they did not hire. Employment specialists made both dispositional
and situational but predominantly situational attributions. For successful employment, all
three groups attributed support from the employment specialists, employers being flexible in
the hiring process and employees with an intellectual disability being capable to do the job as
the most important factors. As well as supporting A-O theory, these findings highlight the
need for employees to be trained in job skills prior to job hunting and especially for
employers to be trained in perspective taking, in order to remove the need for specialist
support agencies.
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Keywords
People with mental disabilities, Employment, New Zealand, Attribution (Social psychology)