Team Affective Climate Toward Disability as a Facilitator of Job Inclusion of Employees With Disabilities: Examining Mediational Paths

Abstract

The integration of employees with disabilities in the workplace is a critical issue for organizations aiming to foster inclusivity and diversity. The purpose of this study was to examine how team affective climate toward disability influences the job inclusion of employees with disabilities. Three indicators of job inclusion were considered: job satisfaction, affective commitment, and the desire to stay in the organization. We examined three mediating mechanisms. First, the mediating role of team-shared stigma. Second, the mediating role of the quality of within-team relationships. Third, a mixed meditational path, where team affective climate→team-shared stigma→relationships quality→job inclusion. The sample was composed of 258 employees from 66 teams included in 15 organizations. Each team included an employee with disabilities. We used PROCESS to test our mediation hypotheses. Our results indicated that the indirect effect of the teams' affective climate toward disability in job inclusion followed a causal chain through the teams' shared stigma and the quality of within-team relationships. Implications for theory, research, and practice based on our findings are discussed.