ABSTRACT
Although psychologists have studied prejudice for nearly a century, it has been only recently that attention has turned toward understanding the consequences of prejudice for its targets, those who are stigmatized (see Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998; Major, Quinton, & McCoy, 2002, for reviews). Stigmatized individuals possess or are perceived to possess an attribute conveying a devalued social identity within a social context (Crocker et al., 1998). Examples of groups that are stigmatized in North America include racial and ethnic minorities, women, gay men and lesbians, people with heavy body weights, and individuals belonging to nontraditional religious groups. The stigmatized encounter discrimination in many domains including restricted access to resources such as employment, income, housing, and education (see R. Clark, Anderson, V. R. Clark, & Williams, 1999, for a review). Additionally, the stigmatized experience many forms of social threat, including being ignored, rejected, disrespected, and patronized (Hebl, Foster, Mannix, & Dovidio, 2002; Swim, Hyers, Cohen, & Ferguson, 2001). Thus, one important goal of research on stigma involves understanding how members of stigmatized groups cope with the predicaments posed by being the target of prejudice and discrimination (Miller, chap. 2, this volume; Swim & Thomas, chap. 6, this volume).
