Social Psychological Perspectives on Stigma: Advances in Theory and Research

The year 2013 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication Erving Goffman’s landmark work, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Through this edited volume, we commemorate the continuing contribution of Goffman’s work on stigma to social psychology. As Goffman originally used the term, stigma implies some sort of negative deviance, or in his words, ’an undesired differentness from what we had anticipated.’ Since Goffman’s pioneering treatise, there have been thousands of articles published on different aspects of stigma. The accelerating volume of articles is testimony to the growing importance of stigma research, with almost three out of four of the stigma-related publications in the research literature appearing in the last 10 years. In this volume, a collection of up-and-coming and seasoned stigma researchers provide both theoretical insights and new empirical findings. The volume should be of interest to both established researchers and advanced students seeking to learn more about the depth and breadth of stigma research.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Basic and Applied Social Psychology.

John B. Pryor is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois, USA. He has been a contributor to the research literature on social stigma for 25 years. As a social psychologist, Dr. Pryor has examined many of the basic psychological processes that contribute to stigmatization. His research spans a variety of stigmatizing conditions including HIV, weight status, mental illness, racial status, and a variety of others.

Arjan E. R. Bos is an Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at Open University, Heerlen, The Netherlands. Some of Dr. Bos’ principal research interests concern stigma reduction strategies and the impact of social stigma on psychological well-being of stigmatized individuals.