Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Over the past three decades, social psychologists have made great strides in understanding stigma. Whether based on disability, age, body size or appearance, membership in a racial or ethnic minority group, or other attributes, the devaluation of those perceived as "different" has profound repercussions both for individuals and for society. This book brings together leading researchers to present groundbreaking findings on such topics as the various dimensions of stigma, why people stigmatize others, how targeted individuals are affected by and respond to stigmatization, and influences on social interactions. Chapters are organized around a cohesive conceptual framework that incorporates the perspectives of both the perceiver and the target; the relevance of personal and collective identities; and the interplay of affective, cognitive, and behavioral reactions in stigmatization.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 Stigma: Introduction and Overview
• I The Perceiver
• 2 Why People Stigmatize: Toward a Biocultural Framework
• 3 Threat and the Social Construction of Stigma
• 4 Stigma and Stereotypes
• 5 Ideology and Lay Theories of Stigma: The Justification of Stigmatization
• II The Stigmatized
• 6 Social Stigma and the Self: Meanings, Situations, and Self-Esteem
• 7 The Looking-Glass Self Revisited: Behavior Choice and Self-Perception in the Social Token
• 8 The Hidden Costs of Hidden Stigma
• 9 Coping with Stigma and Prejudice
• III The Social Interface
• 10 Awkward Moments in Interactions between Nonstigmatized and Stigmatized Individuals
• 11 Stigma, Threat, and Social Interactions
• 12 "Too Young, Too Old": Stigmatizing Adolescents and Elders
• 13 Stigma and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
• 14 The Social Consequences of Physical Disability

Author notes provided by Syndetics