A Social Cognition Perspective
of Stigma
A presentation at Lawrence University
on May 18, 2006
by JOHN B. PRYOR, Ph.D.
Illinois State University
Outline of Today’s Talk
1) What is a stigma? Some basic concepts.
2) Some theories about stigma: Evolutionary
Psychology & Socio-Cultural Approaches
3) A dual process model of reactions to stigma
4) Study 1: A time course in reactions to a variety of
different stigmas - the roles of disgust sensitivity,
motivational to control prejudice, and attributions
about onset control
4) Study 2: Evidence for two factors in reactions to
children with HIV/AIDS
5) Study 3: The unfolding impact of reflexive and rulebased processes in reactions to PWAs over time
6) Conclusions
According to Crocker, Major, and
Steele (1998) "a person who is
stigmatized is a person whose
social identity, or membership in
some social category calls into
question his or her full humanity-the person is devalued, spoiled
or flawed in the eyes of others
(p. 504)."
Erving Goffman (1963) identified
several types of stigma.
an abomination of the body
mastectomy
an abomination of the body
blemishes of individual moral
character
Drug addict
blemishes of individual moral
character
Homeless man
tribal stigma of race, nation, religion,
family, or other social group
Muslim cleric
courtesy stigma - acquired through
chosen affiliation
Girlfriend of Klansman
Theories of
Stigma
The Evolutionary
Psychology Perspective on Stigma
Kurzban & Leary (2001)
• The social exclusion of the stigmatized is found
across all cultures and even in many non-human
animals. Stigma avoidance may have helped our
ancestors survive.
• Evolutionary psychologists suggest that human
beings evolved to avoid:
–Poor social exchange partners
–Members of lower status or conflicting groups
–People likely to carry communicable pathogens.
Socio-Cultural
Perspectives on Stigma
Crandall & Eshleman, 2003
• People learn to associate negative evaluations with
group labels. Negative reactions to persons with
stigma essentially represent a form of prejudice.
• People also learn that it is socially acceptable to
express negative reactions to some groups and not
others (a form of political correctness).
• The perceived onset controllability of a stigma is
crucially related to whether prejudice is socially
acceptable or not.
The Case of Obesity
• According to BMI analyses, 31% of Americans are obese. Only 19%
describe themselves as such.
• Obesity has been shown to relate to negative employment decisions
in hiring, promotion, & firing.
• Obesity is a more powerful stigma for white women. Mildly obese
white women make 5.9% lower wages than their standard weight
counterparts; morbidly obese white women make 24.1% lower.
• Parents are less likely to financially support their heavyweight
daughters’ college educations.
• In a study of adolescent overweight girls, 96 percent
reported perceived negative experiences because of
their weight, including hurtful comments, weightrelated teasing, jokes and derogatory names.
Why are Americans obese?
Genetics & hereditary factors
32
Kinds of foods marketed at
restaurants and groceries
50
Lack of willpower over eating
59
Not getting enough exercise
79
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
percent of Americans saying this is an important factor
Source: Pew Research Center (2006)
90
The blame game
• People have less negative reactions to obese
people when they are told that the person
has genetic disorder
• Cross-cultural studies show that the
tendency to blame obese persons for their
conditions varies across cultures. More
negative reactions are found in cultures
where there is an ideology of blame.
The Dual Process Model
People have both
REFLEXIVE
&
RULE-BASED
psychological reactions to stigmas.
A dual-process model of
reactions to perceived stigma
•
•
•
•
Reflexive Processes
Immediate reactions
Often emotional, often
negative, often involve
avoidance
May reflect instinctual
processes
May reflect associative
processes
•
•
•
•
•
Rule-based Processes
Thoughtful, deliberative
reactions
Take time to unfold
Control processes
May involve approach or
avoidance
Bring into play
attributional
considerations – why
questions
Psychological Impact
The Psychological Impact of Rule-based and Reflexive
Processes Over Time
Rule-based
processes
Reflexive
processes
Time
Study 1: Reflexive and
rule-based factors predict
reactions to a variety of
different stigmas
Study 1: Hypotheses
• Social norms about blame will be related to
how people react to stigmas. The relationship
between blame and negative reactions to
stigmas will be more pronounced after people
have had time to think about their reactions.
• Sensitivity to certain emotions will enhance
initial avoidance toward stigmas.
• As people have time to think about their reactions to
stigmas, they will be more likely to adjust them
according to their motives to be politically correct.
Mean Ratings of Personal Responsibility for
Mean Ratings
of Personal Responsibility for the Onset of Stigmas
the Onset
of Stigmas
abuses a child
cancer & smoked for 20 years
AIDS from unprotected gay sex
addicted to drugs
obese & does not exercise
Stigma
obese
AIDS
depressed
heart disease
cancer
obese due to glandular disorder
breast cancer
AIDS from a blood transfusion
paralyzed by drunk driver
legally blind
0
1
2
3
4
5
Personal Responsibility for Onset
Personal
Responsibility for Onset
6
Instructions to Participants
Imagine that you have a summer job working at a hospital. The title
of your job is "TRANSPORTATION SPECIALIST." The hospital is
very large and has many different units. Units include an emergency
room, critical care, drug/alcohol rehabilitation, oncology (cancer unit),
cardiac unit, psychiatric unit, and counseling services. Your primary
task is to transport patients from each unit to the discharge area. This
task includes physically moving patients--helping them to get in and
out of a wheelchair. Every patient is required to leave the hospital in a
wheelchair irregardless of whether the person is capable of walking.
You are also expected to initiate conversation with the patients. In
this experiment you will be introduced to a variety of different people.
Imagine that these individuals are the patients you have to transport to
the discharge area.
AIDS
Approach/Avoidance Reactions to Persons with Stigmas
Perceived to have Controllable, Neutral, or Uncontrollable Onsets
500
475
Controllable
450
Neutral
Uncontrollable
400
375
350
325
300
275
250
225
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time in 500 ms. intervals
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distance in pixels
425
Sensitivity to Disgust Scale
Haidt, McCauley, & Rozin (1994)
8 domains of disgust (Coefficient Alpha = .82)
• Food - I might be willing to eat monkey meat under some
circumstances.
• Animals - It would bother me to see a rat run across my path in a park.
• Body Products - It bothers me to hear someone clear a throat full of
mucous.
• Sex - I think homosexual activities are immoral.
• Envelope Violations - You see a man with his intestines exposed after
an accident.
• Death - It would bother me tremendously to touch a dead body.
• Hygiene - You discover that a friend of your changes underwear only
once a week.
• Magic - A friend offers you a piece of chocolate shaped like dog doo.
Motivation to Control Prejudice
Against Persons with Stigma Questionnaire
Pryor, Reeder, Yeadon, & Hesson-McInnis (2004)
Coefficient Alpha = .88
1) I attempt to act in non-prejudiced ways towards people with AIDS (people who have
cancer, people who are obese) because it is personally important to me.
2) I am personally motivated by my beliefs to be non-prejudiced towards people with
AIDS (people who have cancer, people who are obese) .
3) Being non-prejudiced towards people with AIDS (people who have cancer, people
who are obese) is important to my self concept.
4) My personal beliefs and values determine how I respond to people with AIDS
(people who have cancer, people who are obese) more than my concern with others’
reactions.
5) My personal beliefs and standards are more important in my decision for how to act
towards people with AIDS (people who have cancer, people who are obese) than is
my concern for how others will react.
Percent of Variance in Relationships between Distance and
Disgust Sensitivity vs. Motivation to Control Prejudice regarding
Stigma over Time
0.16
Disgust controlling for MTCPS
0.14
MTCPS controlling for Disgust
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
time in 500 ms. intervals
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percent of variance
0.12
Study 2: Can arbitrary
associations produce
reflexive reactions to a
stigma?
A Stigma Evokes a Collection of Associations
death
homosexuality
affect
affect
affect
misfortune
affect
drug use
illness
affect
affect
Can reflexive reactions to
a stigma be activated by
an arbitrary associative
chain?
x
xx
xx
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Attitudes toward lesbians and gay men
EXAMPLE ITEMS
Female homosexuality is bad for society
because it breaks down the natural divisions
between the sexes.
State laws against private sexual behavior
between consenting adult women should be
abolished.
Female homosexuality is a sin.
I think male homosexuals are disgusting.
If a man has homosexual feelings, he should do
everything he can to overcome them.
Male homosexuality is merely a different kind of
lifestyle that should not be condemned.
Motivation to Control Prejudice
Against PWAs Questionnaire
(Coefficient Alpha = .76)
1) I attempt to act in non-prejudiced ways towards people with AIDS
because it is personally important to me.
2) I am personally motivated by my beliefs to be non-prejudiced
towards people with AIDS.
3) Being non-prejudiced towards people with AIDS is important to my
self concept.
4) My personal beliefs and values determine how I respond to people
with AIDS more than my concern with others’ reactions.
5) My personal beliefs and standards are more important in my decision
for how to act towards people with AIDS than is my concern for how
others will react.
Step 1
Attitudes
toward
Lesbians &
Gay Men
Hierarchical Multiple
Regression for 98
Undergraduates
R =.37
F (1,97)=14.93, p <.01
Step 2
Motivation
To Control
Prejudice
R =.46
F (1,96)=9.89, p <.01
(for change)
Attitudes
toward
having
lunch with
Child
with HIV
Step 1
Motivation
To Control
Prejudice
Hierarchical Multiple
Regression for 98
Undergraduates
R =.32
F (1,97)=10.79, p <.01
Step 2
Attitudes
toward
Lesbians &
Gay Men
R =.46
F (1,96)=13.96, p <.01
(for change)
Attitudes
toward
having
lunch with
Child
with HIV
Study 3: A time course in
the impact of reflexive and
reflective factors on
reactions to someone with
HIV/AIDS
Psychological Impact
The Psychological Impact of Rule-based and Reflexive
Processes Over Time
Rule-based
processes
Reflexive
processes
Time
Participants were told they would
be going on a “trust walk” with
the other participant they rated
most positively
Online Questionnaire Completed by Participants
Screen used by participants to react to
information concerning the “other participants.”
Questions & Answers
• Where are you from and how long have
you been at ISU?
• Do you belong to any organizations on
• I am from Peoria and I am a freshman
• I pledged a fraternity this year
campus or do you work?
• List your three favorite hobbies?
• sports, going to frat stuff, computer
•
• What do you feel makes you unique?
games (like Tomb Raider)
After a car accident, I had a blood
transfusion. From that transfusion I got
HIV/AIDS.
• I want to get a Masters & work for a
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
large software company. I want to
develop software and some day have
my own company and be filthy rich
Distance from all 3 Persons Over Time on the Fourth Trial
450
Distance from Person
400
350
Burglar
Honors Student
300
PWA
250
0
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5.5
Time (secs.)
6
6.5
7
7.5
8
8.5
9
9.5
Relationships
of Avoidance of a PWA to Internal Motivation
Relationships of Avoidance of a PWA to Internal Motivation
to Control
andHeterosexuals'
Heterosexuals'
Attitudes
to ControlPrejudice
Prejudice and
Attitudes
toward toward
HomosexualityHomosexuality
on the 4th Trial
on the 4th Trial
0.08
0.07
IMTCP controlling for HATH
HATH controlling for IMTCP
0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
Time (500 ms. intervals)
Time (500
ms. intervals)
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Percent of Variance
0.06
Conclusions of Today’s Talk
Psychological reactions to perceived
stigma involve two processes: an immediate, reflexive
process and a more thoughtful, rule-based process.
These two processes do not seem to function in some discrete stagelike fashion, rather they interact dynamically to influence
approach/avoidance reactions over time.
Anti-stigma interventions could attempt to alter either or both
processes. Interventions that have incorporated contact with
stigmatized persons have been shown to be effective in reducing
negative reactions to persons with HIV, persons with mental
illnesses, and other stigmatized groups. Contact interventions may
reduce reflexive negative reactions.