Stigma: Advances in Theory and Research

Basic and Applied Social Psychology

It has been fifty years since the publication of Goffman’s work Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Goffman’s work has contributed greatly to the advancement of the field of social stigma. The current special issue of BASP celebrates the contributions of Goffman with 15 articles reflecting the current state of the art in stigma research. In this introduction to the special issue, we provide a theoretical overview of the stigma concept and offer a useful taxonomy of four types of stigma (public stigma, self-stigma, stigma by association, and structural stigma). Next, we utilize this taxonomy to organize an overview to the articles included in the special issue. Finally, we outline new developments and challenges in stigma research for the coming decades. Topics for the future stigma research agenda include structural factors that promote and maintain stigma, the social neuroscience of stigma, social interactions between perceivers and stigmatized individuals, the investigation of the interrelations between different forms of stigma, the measurement of stigmatization, and evaluations of stigma reduction interventions.

This contribution identifies some of the major themes and controversies in current research on stigma and social disadvantage, paying particular attention to the perspective of the stigmatized. We examine the social contextual and interactive nature of stigmatization that determines its impact and consequences for those who are stigmatized. We outline some areas of research where different findings seem incompatible or have remained unresolved. Specifically, we identify moderators of the consequences of social stigma for the self, of the role of identification with the stigmatized group as a source of vulnerability or of resilience, as well as of how stigma affects task performance. In this way, we provide a thematic framework outlining the different ways in which the articles in this special issue contribute to the resolution of current controversies and debates in the literature on social stigma.

The Sociological Review, 2018

Stigma is not a self-evident phenomenon but like all concepts has a history. The conceptual understanding of stigma which underpins most sociological research has its roots in the ground-breaking account penned by Erving Goffman in his best-selling book Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity (1963). In the 50 years since its publication, Goffman’s account of stigma has proved a productive concept, in terms of furthering research on social stigma and its effects, on widening public understandings of stigma, and in the development of anti-stigma campaigns. However, this introductory article argues that the conceptual understanding of stigma inherited from Goffman, along with the use of micro-sociological and/or psychological research methods in stigma research, often side-lines questions about where stigma is produced, by whom and for what purposes. As Simon Parker and Robert Aggleton argue, what is frequently missing is social and political questions, such as ‘how stigma...

Annual review of Sociology, 2001

Social science research on stigma has grown dramatically over the past two decades, particularly in social psychology, where researchers have elucidated the ways in which people construct cognitive categories and link those categories to stereotyped beliefs. In the midst of this growth, the stigma concept has been criticized as being too vaguely defined and individually focused. In response to these criticisms, we define stigma as the co-occurrence of its components-labeling, stereotyping, separation, status loss, and discrimination-and further indicate that for stigmatization to occur, power must be exercised. The stigma concept we construct has implications for understanding several core issues in stigma research, ranging from the definition of the concept to the reasons stigma sometimes represents a very persistent predicament in the lives of persons affected by it. Finally, because there are so many stigmatized circumstances and because stigmatizing processes can affect multiple domains of people's lives, stigmatization probably has a dramatic bearing on the distribution of life chances in such areas as earnings, housing, criminal involvement, health, and life itself. It follows that social scientists who are interested in understanding the distribution of such life chances should also be interested in stigma.

Journal of Epidemiology and …, 2009

Journal of Health Psychology, 2011

Stigma research is hampered by lack of consensus about the number of dimensions making up the stigma construct and what these dimensions measure. Two studies were conducted testing the dimensionality of stigma. Using 105 items proposed to measure stigma in previous research, the first study (N = 307) conducted an exploratory factor analysis using the maximum likelihood method of factor extraction. Results supported five factors that were designated as labeling, negative attribution, separation, status loss, and controllability. Using these factors, a second study (N = 263) demonstrated support for the goodness of fit of the proposed 5-dimensional stigma model.

Annual Review of Psychology, 2005

This chapter addresses the psychological effects of social stigma. Stigma directly affects the stigmatized via mechanisms of discrimination, expectancy confirmation, and automatic stereotype activation, and indirectly via threats to personal and social identity. We review and organize recent theory and empirical research within an identity threat model of stigma. This model posits that situational cues, collective representations of one's stigma status, and personal beliefs and motives shape appraisals of the significance of stigma-relevant situations for well-being. Identity threat results when stigma-relevant stressors are appraised

Annual Review of Sociology, 2013

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, research on stigma has continued. Building on conceptual and empirical work, the recent period clarifies new types of stigmas, expansion of measures, identification of new directions, and increasingly complex levels. Standard beliefs have been challenged, the relationship between stigma research and public debates reconsidered, and new scientific foundations for policy and programs suggested. We begin with a summary of the most recent Annual Review articles on stigma, which reminded sociologists of conceptual tools, informed them of developments from academic neighbors, and claimed findings from the early period of "resurgence." Continued (even accelerated) progress has also revealed a central problem. Terms and measures are often used interchangeably, leading to confusion and decreasing accumulated knowledge. Drawing from this work but focusing on the past 14 years of stigma research (including mental illness, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS, and race/ethnicity), we provide a theoretical architecture of concepts (e.g., prejudice, experienced/received discrimination), drawn together through a stigma process (i.e., stigmatization), based on four theoretical premises. Many characteristics of the mark (e.g., discredited, concealable) and variants (i.e., stigma types and targets) become the focus of increasingly specific and multidimensional definitions. Drawing from complex and systems science, we propose a stigma complex, a system of interrelated, heterogeneous parts bringing together insights across disciplines to provide a more realistic and complicated sense of the challenge facing research and change efforts. The Framework Integrating Normative Influences on Stigma (FINIS) offers a multilevel approach that can be tailored to stigmatized statuses. Finally, we outline challenges for the next phase of stigma research, with the goal of continuing scientific activity that enhances our understanding of stigma and builds the scientific foundation for efforts to reduce intolerance.

Language and Literature – European Landmarks of Identity / Limba și Literatura – Repere Identitare în Context European / Editura Universităţii din Piteşti, 2020

Sociologist Erving Goffman introduced in 1963 the term ‘stigma’ in social sciences in his classic monograph “Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity” and examined the process of stigmatization in everyday social interaction. Stigmatization can take many forms, and the types of stigmata are numerous. The stigmatization process is very complex and has profound consequences on those affected by it. In this paper, the concept of social stigma is addressed, the process of stigmatization is approached and the most frequent forms of stigmata and stigmatization, as well as their effects, both psychological and social, are outlined.