Ethnic Stigma as a Contextual Experience: A Possible Selves Perspective

Abstract

This article critiques trait views of stigma that suggest that membership in a negatively stereotyped group leads to low self-esteem and self-hatred, and it builds from Erving Goffman's theorizing to define stigma as the expectation of a stereotypical and discrediting judgment of oneself by others in a particular context. Students (40 of color and 46 European American) watched a videotape of a prospective teaching assistant (TA) in an experiment in which ethnic match with the TA and frequency of imagined evaluation by the TA were manipulated. Students of color envisioned less positive views of self in ongoing interactions with a European American TA who would evaluate them in the domain of the stigma. Implications for stigma theory and education are discussed.