Pathways to Workers' Experience of Contact with People with Disabilities, Attitude toward People with Disabilities, and Perception of Work Performance

The perception of employers and employees regarding the work performance of workers with disabilities is generally crucial for the employment and retention of people with disabilities. Accordingly, this study aims to examine the pathways through which employees' experiences of contact with people with disabilities (general contact, positive contact, and negative contact) influence their perceptions of the work performance of workers with disabilities, mediated by their attitudes toward people with disabilities. The study participants were employees working at businesses located in Gyeonggi Province, and the survey was conducted from November 2019 to April 2020, with a total of 360 responses used for data analysis. The results of the path analysis revealed that positive contact not only had a direct effect on the perception of workers with disabilities' work performance but also an indirect effect mediated by attitudes toward people with disabilities. In contrast, negative contact influenced perceptions only indirectly through attitudes. These findings suggest that in order to improve employees' perceptions of the work performance of workers with disabilities, it is necessary to enhance positive contact experiences and mitigate negative ones. Based on these results, several recommendations were made, including increasing the participation of people with disabilities in workplace awareness programs, expanding opportunities for indirect experiences through advanced technologies such as VR and AR, and implementing media regulation guidelines.