Efficacy of the theory of planned behavior in the context of hiring Malaysians with disabilities

Employers’ negative attitudes and unfounded concerns about hiring disabled workers are contributing factors to high unemployment rates among the disabled population. Employers view disabled workers are unproductive and consider as liabilities to their companies. The negative perceptions among employers explain why those persons with disabilities (PWDs) are likely not hired by companies in Malaysia although they have sufficient qualifications for the jobs offered. In particular, hiring PWDs is a missing dimension in the employment context in Malaysia. Employers are viewed to practice discrimination in developing their employment policy for those PWDs even those PWDs are significant to their companies’ performance. Hence, employers’ unwillingness to hire PWDs contributes to the untapped pool of labor, leading to high unemployment rates among PWDs. Within a modified theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework, this paper is aimed at validating the claim that employer attitudes towards persons with disabilities (PWDs) are significantly relevant as they can either positively or negatively influence intention to hire the Malaysians with disabilities. The TPB provides the theoretical foundation for the current study. Data were obtained using a survey which garnered the participation of 200 employers in East Malaysia. The modified TPB model was examined using partial least squares (PLS) method. The PLS is chosen because of two main reasons. Firstly, the PLS requires minimal demand on the residual distribution, measurement scales and sample size. Secondly, the PLS is easily conducted using two stages, namely, measurement model and structural analysis. Using PLS, the current study finds that all constructs’ items are valid, reliable and suitable in the current context. At the structural level, this study discovers significant effects of subjective norm and perceived behavioral control on attitudes. Attitudes, in turn, influence intention to hire. Our results suggest that the TPB constructs are adequate to explain the hiring Malaysians with disabilities in the context of Malaysia. Notably, attitudes mediate the relationships between the independent variables (i.e., subjective norm and perceived behavioral control) and the dependent variable (i.e., intention to hire). Considering attitudes as a mediator in the current context provides further refinement to the TPB. In all, the results indicate that all the hypothesized relationship in the core model was confirmed. The results provide valuable insights, which may help, increase PWDs’ employment by addressing negative managerial attitudes towards PWDs. This study offers guidelines on the formation of pro-hiring attitudes towards PWDs and the significance of subjective norm as an attitude-shaping mechanism.