Disability visibility and stigma threat: Effects on the performance, stress, and self-control of disabled workers

Having a stigmatized disability is a depleting experience. For those with a disability, there are many factors that contribute to potential performance decrements in any given situation. Visibility of the disability, and the stigma connected to the disability are two such factors—which I argue based on research on motivation, regulation, and stress, contributes to the regulatory depletion experienced by disabled individuals. I conducted an experimental study where participants took part in a workplace simulation. Participants were given an artificially simulated disability and both the visibility of the disability and the stigmatizing nature of the disability were manipulated. I found a significant effect of disability visibility, on performance and an interaction effect of stigma threat and disability visibility on self-control. The implications of these results for theory, practice, and future research are discussed