Prejudice and work discrimination: Exploring the effects of employers’ work experience, contact and attitudes on the intention to hire people with mental illness

Abstract

[EN] Previous studies informed that work experience improves employers’ attitudes toward hiring people with mental illness. However, there is a lack of reliable instruments to measure employers’ attitudes. In this study, significant associations between employers’ attitudes toward the employability of people with mental illness and the intention to hire them were explored, as well as the work experience and contact with those individuals. Employers’ opinions were collected answering a questionnaire measuring attitudes and intention to hire. Psychometric properties of both scales were analyzed. Score differences were tested and a path model was performed for explaining intention to hire. EFA and CFA provided 14 items distributed into two factors for the attitudes scale. Intention to hire scale demonstrates employers’ preferences about the modality in which they would hire people with mental illness. Attitudes, work experience and contact with relatives prove to be significant direct and indirect predictors of the intention to hire.

[ES] studios previos informaron que la experiencia laboral mejora las actitudes de los empleadores hacia la contratación de personas con enfermedades mentales. Sin embargo, existe una falta de instrumentos confiables para medir dichas actitudes. En este estudio, se exploraron asociaciones significativas entre las actitudes de los empleadores hacia la empleabilidad de personas con enfermedades mentales y la intención de contratarlas, así como la experiencia laboral y el contacto con estas personas. Las opiniones de los empleadores se recopilaron mediante un cuestionario que medía actitudes e intención de contratar. Se analizaron las propiedades psicométricas de ambas escalas. Se probaron las diferencias en las puntuaciones y se realizó un modelo de rutas para explicar la intención de contratar. El análisis factorial exploratorio (EFA) y confirmatorio (CFA) identificó 14 ítems distribuidos en dos factores para la escala de actitudes. La escala de intención de contratar demuestra las preferencias de los empleadores respecto a la modalidad en que contratarían a personas con enfermedades mentales. Las actitudes, la experiencia laboral y el contacto con familiares resultaron ser predictores directos e indirectos significativos de la intención de contratar.