Title
Tuberculosis (TB) Related Stigma: A Conceptual Framework and Workplace Implications
Abstract
People living with Tuberculosis (TB) are stigmatized socially. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease transmitted through the air and can affect any part of the body, majority people do not know much about its mode of transmission and treatment protocols. Despite being curable, Tuberculosis is still a stigmatized disease, not only because of its clinical manifestations but also due to psychosocial behaviors. TB affected individuals are consider devalued in society and in an organizational context they get reduced opportunities of selection, promotion and income. Stigma is often explained as a discrediting attribute leading to an impairment of social status and position, rejection and/or exclusion.
Likewise, stigmatized identities are devalued social identities or attributes given to an affected individual due to infectious diseases. This study examines the relatively new phenomenon of (deviant workplace behavior, turnover intention and social isolation) as an outcome of tuberculosis stigmatized identities at workplace. The current study empirically and theoretically investigates self-esteem as an interlinking mechanism in the relationship between valence content (internal, enacted, anticipated and disclosure) tuberculosis stigmatized identities and workplace outcomes (deviant workplace behavior, turnover intention and social isolation). In addition, magnitude (centrality and salience) Tb induced stigma used as a potential moderating variable between valence content of TB induced stigmatized identities and self-esteem. Also, moderating role of perceived organizational support is also a salient feature of the study in the relationship between self-esteem and workplace outcomes.
Data were collected through self-administrated questionnaire that is translated into native language. Population of current study was middle and low level employees working in public and private Tuberculosis hospitals of Pakistan. Author used convenience/purposive sampling to obtain the data. The data of current study collected into three time lags. The total number of questionnaire was 550. The same number of questionnaires was distributed in all three time intervals and the response rate was 321 only.
The result of current study indicates that valence content (internalized and anticipated) TB stigmatized identities positively related with self-esteem. IV Accordingly, enacted TB stigma has negative impact on self-esteem and disclosure TB stigma has positive impact on self-esteem.
The moderating role of centrality TB stigma only established in the relationship between enacted TB induces stigma and self-esteem. The role of centrality tuberculosis stigma as moderator is not established with (internal, anticipated, disclosure) TB stigmatized individuals and self-esteem. Similarly, the role of salience tuberculosis stigma as moderating variable also not established in current study. Furthermore, self-esteem as interlinking mechanism in the relationship between valence content and workplace outcome i.e. turnover intention not established in current study. Accordingly, self-esteem mediates in the relationship between valence content of TB stigmatized identities workplace outcomes (deviant workplace behavior and social isolation).In addition, self-esteem not act as a mediating variable in the relationship between (enacted, disclosure) tuberculosis stigmatized identities and social isolation. In the current research POS not act as a moderating variable between self-esteem and workplace outcome (Deviant workplace behaviors and social isolation).In addition, perceived organizational support act as facilitating moderating variable in the relationship between self-esteem and social isolation. Social identity theory has been used as an overarching theory for current theoretical model. Theoretical and practical implications along with future recommendations have been discussed.