Acceptance of Disability and Help-seeking Behaviors: From an Attachment Perspective

Abstract

Recent studies on people with disabilities (PWDs) mainly focused on company practices seeking to accommodate them. Our understanding of how the psychology behind PWDs affects their integration into the workplace is still limited. This insufficient understanding prevents managers from fully revealing the work potentials of PWDs. Based on the theory of acceptance of loss from disability and adult attachment, this paper investigates the relationship between PWDs' acceptance of disability and help-seeking behaviors. Help-seeking behavior is an essential element of any work activity. However, the long-recognized stigma of disability impedes help-seeking by PWDs at their workplaces. We investigate a new antecedent of help-seeking behavior on the part of PWDs. It is generally recognized that help-seeking behaviors are affected by demographic and contextual variables. We argue that attitudinal factors such as acceptance of disability, attachment anxiety, and attachment avoidance are also important in determining help-seeking. The results show that acceptance of disability leads to a more autonomous help-seeking behavior, which, in turn, enhances the performance of employees with disabilities.