Stigma Management Communication: A Theory and Agenda for Applied Research on How Individuals Manage Moments of Stigmatized Identity

Abstract

Despite increasing interest in the negative impact of stigma, a comprehensive theoretical frame to the discursive management of stigma is lacking. This paper advances stigma research by integrating disparate areas of stigma research and highlighting the co-constructed and materially influenced process of stigma management to create a theory and typology of stigma management communication. It is argued that stigma is shifting and determined by both the stigmatized and stigmatizers and that all stigma management communication can be organized into four quadrants based on individuals' acceptance/denial (a) of the existence of a stigma and (b) of the stigma's applicability to that individual. The result is a typology of stigma management strategies and a framework of propositions and directions for future applied research.

Keywords:

• Stigma Management
• Dirty Work
• Identity
• Organizational Communication
• Health Communication

Acknowledgements

This research was partially funded by a grant from the University of Missouri Research Council. The author wishes to thank Bill Benoit, Patrice Buzzanell, Jane Henson and Loreen Olson for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

Notes

1. Ashforth et al. (2007) shared an example similar to this one when they discussed confrontational strategies, but their example may challenge the stereotypes and stigma, whereas the type of joke that would fit this internalization category would not clearly challenge the stigma.

2. This form of denial does not deny or challenge public belief that the group is stigmatized, only that this one individual belongs in this stigmatized group.

3. Distinguishing between an accepting isolator and a stigma situation avoider may prove difficult in the field.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca J. Meisenbach

Rebecca J. Meisenbach is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri