The Relationships Among Disability Type, Religious Orientation, Awareness and Accommodation Type and Perceived Reasonableness of Accommodation

This exploratory study examined the relationships among disability type (physical versus mental), religious orientation, awareness of disability issues and accommodation type and perceptions of the reasonableness of specific accommodations. One hundred seventy seven introductory psychology students (87 men and 90 women) participated in the study. Ninety four subjects completed a survey regarding accommodations for persons with physical disabilities and 83 subjects completed a survey regarding accommodations for mental disabilites. Significant main effects for disability type, awareness and accommodation type were found. Ratings of the reasonableness of accommodations were higher for persons with mental disabilities than for persons with physical disabilities. Subjects high in awareness of disability issues had slightly more favorable perceptions of reasonable accommodations and certain accommodation types were perceived more favorably than others. Implications for implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the workplace are explored