Derogation, Exclusion, and Unfair Treatment of Persons with Social Flaws
- 1 September 1989
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Vol. 15 (3) , 439-451
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167289153013
Abstract
The effect of controllability of stigma on the attribution of prejudice was investigated in a series of five experiments. In prior prejudice attribution research, the stigma that made the victim subject to discrimination was a characteristic beyond the individual's control, such as age or race. In the present research, controllability of the stigma was systematically varied. Subjects read scenarios in which persons with flaws of speech or appearance were subject to discriminatory behaviors of derogation, exclusion, or unfair treatment. The flaws were either within or beyond the control of the individual possessing them. More prejudice was attributed to those who behaved in a discriminatory way toward persons whose flaws were beyond their control. The theoretical explanation offered for the outcome is that discrimination can be thought of as form of harmdoing, and prejudice attribution as a form of blame attribution.Keywords
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