ABSTRACT
Social psychological research on stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination has typically focused on the views and responses of members of dominant groups to members of minority groups. Recent efforts to focus attention on the perspective of stereotyped or stigmatized groups have led to a variety of theoretical and methodological innovations in the study of stigma. The authors in this volume have been on the forefront of these efforts. As a result, we have obtained a much deeper understanding of how stigma affects the stigmatized individual, his or her interaction partners, the stigmatized and nonstigmatized groups to which they belong, and relations between the groups. The volume as a whole examines many different forms of stigma, including stigma based on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, weight, eating disorders, mental and physical illness, and a history of incarceration. In particular, the volume addresses three main themes of research on stigma: (a) the effects of stigma and the processes that account for these effects; (b) the variables that moderate the effects of stigma on outcomes; and (c) the lessons that can be learned from this work to mitigate the negative effects of stigma at the individual, interpersonal, and structural or institutional levels.
