Disability Severity, Professional Isolation Perceptions, and Career Outcomes: When Does Leader–Member Exchange Quality Matter?

Employees with disability-related communication impairment often experience isolation from professional connections that can negatively affect their careers. Management research suggests having lower quality leader relationships be an obstacle to the development of for employees disabilities. However, in this paper we suggest leader–member exchange (LMX) may not a uniform hurdle impairment. Drawing on psychological disengagement theory, predict more severe, rather than less develop resilience challenges LMX by psychologically disengaging and, turn, bear fewer negative consequences career outcomes. In two studies deaf and hard hearing employees, find severe perceive being isolated impairment, report better Overall, our findings effective coping strategies manage perceived outcomes when relationships.