Investigating the Impact of Disclosing a History of Mental Illness on Perceptions of a Job Applicant’s Qualifications and Hireability
Jessica Czapalski
Co-Presenters: Individual Presentation
College: College of Liberal Arts
Major: Psychology
Faculty Research Mentor: Verneda Hamm-Baugh
Abstract:
Maintaining consistent employment is widely viewed as a component of recovery for people living with mental illnesses. However, these individuals can face significant barriers in finding and maintaining employment. Previous studies have shown that openly disclosing a mental illness often impacts employers’ expectations of how well the individual will perform at their job. The current study was designed to investigate the impact of disclosing a mental illness versus a physical illness in a job application on the perception of the applicant’s hireability. One of two variations of a mock job application was presented to each participant within a Qualtrics survey. These applications were identical except for the applicant’s response to a question about why they left their previous job and had a one-year gap in employment. One said the gap was because they went into treatment for a mental illness, while the other said the gap was because they went into treatment for a physical illness. Participants rated the applicant. Next, participants were then asked if they believed the applicant should be interviewed and were invited to share their reasoning for their response.