L - 24 The Self VIII

Question 1

What is stigma?

Answer 1

Generally stigma refers to something that marks someone as being devalued.

These marks become associated with negative evaluations and stereotypes.

Stigma reduces an individual “from a whole and usual person to a tainted, discounted on” (Goffman, 1963).

Question 2

What are Goffman’s (1963) three different classifications of stigma?

Answer 2

1. Tribal stigma (e.g. ethnic group).
2. Abominations of the body (e.g. physical deformity).
3. Blemishes of individual character (to do with moral transgressions e.g. drug addicts).

Question 3

What are the two main dimensions of stigma from Crocker et al. (1998)?

Answer 3

1. Concealability (how visible):
   e. g. skin colour vs. homosexuality.
   - visible aspects create attributional ambiguity (are they treating me like this because X?)
2. Controllability:
   - the extent to which a stigmatised person is seen as personally responsible for their stigma
   e. g. race vs. piercings

Question 4

What are some functions of stigmatisation?

Answer 4

Self-esteem and social identity.

System justification.

Evolutionary account.

Question 5

What is self-esteem and social identity in regards to stigmatisation?

Answer 5

• By denigrating others we make ourselves/our group feel good.
• Downward social comparisons with worse off groups maintains a positive social identity.

Question 6

What is system justification in regards to stigmatisation?

Answer 6

• People are motivated to justify existing social, economic, and political systems.
• Attributions are made about deservingness, etc. based on social structure (e.g. low SES are lazy fucks).
• Explains why some groups are stigmatised within a culture.

Question 7

What is the evolutionary account in regards to stigmatisation?

Answer 7

• Stigma does not always arise from negative evaluations and stereotypes (e.g. academics)
• Stigmatised individuals have a ‘universal’ characteristic that constitutes a basis for exclusion
• This is adaptive: we stigmatise people who reduce our chances of passing on our genes.

Question 8

According to Kurzban and Leary (2001) what are the universal characters associated with stigmatisation?

Answer 8

• Poor partners for social exchange (Goffman’s “blemishes of individual character”).
• Carry a parasitic infection (Goffman’s “abominations of the body”).
• This explains commonalities across cultures, but not differences.