Saturday, July 26, 2014

Stigma and Culture




BASIC AND APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, 35:98–108, 2013
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0197-3533 print/1532-4834 online
DOI: 10.1080/01973533.2012.746604

Cultural Differences in Targets of Stigmatization Between
Individual- and Group-Oriented Cultures
Hyeyoung Shin
University of Maryland, College Park
John F. Dovidio and Jaime L. Napier
Yale University

Abstract
This research investigated cultural differences in stigmatization of out-groups representing
Goffman’s distinction between “tribal stigma” and “blemishes of character.” We
hypothesized that “group-oriented” (vs. individual-oriented) cultures would be more
likely to stigmatize nonnormative groups, including tribal out-groups (people of a
different race, immigrants/foreign workers) and out-groups with blemishes of character
(homosexuals, heavy drinkers, drug addicts), because of higher value of behavioral
conformity and/or lower value of uniqueness. Country-level analyses with nine individual oriented
and four group-oriented countries supported our hypotheses and revealed that
the cultural value of uniqueness played a more influential role than behavioral conformity.
We discuss implications and directions for future research.

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