Name: Christine Tulk 
Area of Study: Organizational
In what program are you currently enrolled? PhD
What year of the program are you currently in? 2
Citation in APA format
Tulk, C., Mantler, J., & Dupré, K. E. (2021). The impact of job accommodations on stereotyping and emotional responses to coworkers with anxiety or depression. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 53(2), 138–151. https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000224
Plain language abstract:
The current research examined the impact of job accommodations (Study 1) and educational information (Study 2) on responses to coworkers with depression or anxiety. Participants read a scenario about a fictitious coworker returning to work following a leave of absence and answered items on negative stereotypes, unfairness, and emotional responses. Scenarios varied the reason for leave [depression, anxiety, surgery] and accommodation [yes, no]. In Study 2, half of participants also read information about the employer’s duty to accommodate. The results provided no evidence that accommodations or educational information influenced the aspects of stigma measured in this study, but highlighted the potential importance of perceived unfairness. Participants who endorsed negative stereotypes were more likely to find the situation unfair to themselves and to, in turn, respond with negative emotions.
How did the idea for this research come about?
I began thinking about workplace mental health-related stigma after being introduced to interpersonal mistreatment in the workplace (e.g., workplace ostracism, incivility) as part of an undergraduate seminar in occupational health psychology. I wondered to what degree prejudicial beliefs contribute to negative responses of colleagues working with individuals with mental health problems and whether attitudes towards more common mental health problems had lessened in recent years because of anti-stigma campaigns such as Bell Let’s Talk. During previous work experiences, I had noticed that job accommodations seemed to evoke strong reactions when an individual was being accommodated for mental health reasons. These ideas came together over the course of discussions with my master’s thesis supervisor and evolved into the two studies I conducted as part of my master’s thesis.
How did you collect the data for this project?
I recruited 603 participants for Study 1 using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. For Study 2, I recruited 317 participants from a department of the Canadian government using a recruitment notice included in a weekly e-newsletter sent to all employees. Both studies were experimental vignette surveys hosted by Qualtrics. In Study 1 and Study 2, participants were randomly assigned to read a scenario that described a colleague returning to work following a leave of absence for depression, anxiety, or surgery. In Study 2, half of the participants were also randomly assigned to read information on the employer’s duty to accommodate. All participants then answered items on stereotypes, unfairness, emotional and behavioural responses, and demographics.
Was the journal you published in the first journal you submitted this paper to?
Yes
Why did you choose this journal?
The journal had posted a Call for Papers for a special issue on I/O psychology research.
How many other journals did you submit this paper to before it landed in the journal that eventually published your work?
0
What was your revision experience?
There were many, many revisions! It was frustrating at times to address all the concerns raised by the reviewers and the editor, but all the revisions definitely made the article better. I also had two experienced co-authors who helped me through the submission and review process and put all the feedback into perspective.
How many rounds of revision did you experience?
3
Did you need to collect new data to satisfy a reviewer?
No
How long did it take from first submission to acceptance?
6 months
Was this paper conducted as part of your MA thesis?
Yes
Was this paper conducted as part of your PhD dissertation?
No
Was this research conducted with your supervisor?
Yes, with Dr. Janet Mantler
Was this research conducted with fellow graduate students in our program?
No
Was this research conducted with researchers external to Carleton?
No
You can access the article here.