10.5465/AMBPP.2017.4 GAIN OR PAIN: HOW DISABILITY SEVERITY AFFECTS THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE FOR INCLUSION JIPING LI Department of Management Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clearwater Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR XIJI ZHU Chinese University of Hong Kong XINXIN LI National University of Singapore PRITHVIRAJ CHATTOPADHYAY University of Auckland ELIZABETH GEORGE University of Auckland INTRODUCTION As disability becomes an emerging demographic in the workplace (WHO, 2011), organizational research on people with disabilities has gained momentum in the past two decades, with a predominant focus on how the disabled are treated in employment compared to the non- disabled (e.g., Colella & Varma, 2001; Dwertmann & Boehm, 2016). However, as Colella and Bruyère (2011: 493) suggested, the “least examined area in the field of disability and employment” is how to effectively manage groups with disability diversity, which consist of non-disabled members and disabled members with various levels of severity. Regarding diversity management, scholars have recently emphasized the benefits of fostering a climate for inclusion, wherein “individuals of all backgrounds—not just members of historically powerful identity groups—are fairly treated, valued for who they are, and included in core decision-making” (Nishii, 2013: 1754). Accordingly, researchers strongly recommend organizations to manage disability diversity by cultivating an inclusive climate (Boehm & Dwertmann, 2014; Dwertmann, Nishi, & van Knippenberg, 2016; Shore, Randel, Chung, Dean, Ehrhart, & Singh, 2011). However, empirical research validating the effectiveness of inclusive climate in disability diversity management is lacking. Our study, therefore, aims to examine how employees’ perceived climate for inclusion affects their performance in disability-diverse groups. Drawing on the self-presentation approach to social anxiety (Schlenker & Leary, 1982) and the stigma literature (e.g., Link & Phelan, 2001), we propose and examine social anxiety as a mechanism through which perceived climate for inclusion could exert influence on individual performance. Furthermore, individuals with different levels of disability severity suffer from the negative stereotypes to various extents (Steele, 1997). We argue that an inclusive climate is beneficial for employees with low disability severity (including those without disabilities) because it reduces their social anxiety and in turn enhances their performance. In contrast, an