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Skeleton out of the closet: How previously-concealed stigma affects on-going impressions
Abstract
Two experiments investigated the extent to which the discovery of a previously-concealed stigma leads to stereotyped versus individuated impressions. Because such a discovery temporarily renders a known target unpredictable, perceivers should be motivated to incorporate the stigma into their existing impressions; attention to stigma-consistent attributes, which are largely redundant with the stigma, should accomplish that goal most quickly. This more stereotype-based impression process, however, should be undercut by interdependence between perceiver and target. Interdependence should lead to more individuated impression processes, as manifested by increased attention to stigma-inconsistent attributes. In each experiment, subjects were either interdependent or nondependent with a fictitious fellow subject whose stigma either was discovered before or after perceivers' initial impressions had formed. Subjects commented into a tape-recorder about the fictitious target's attributes, some of which were stigma-inconsistent and some of which were stigma-consistent. Experiment 1 subjects also commented about stigma-irrelevant attributes. In general, results supported predictions. Relative to subjects who discovered the stigma early, subjects who needed to incorporate the stigma into existing impressions increased attention to stigma-consistent information. This latter group also drew more dispositional inferences about stigma-consistent information, which reflected their attempts to determine how the stigma fit the target's true disposition. In addition, interdependence promoted more individuating processes via increased attention to and dispositional inferences about stigma-inconsistent attributes, even when the stigma was discovered late. The generalizability of these findings, impression updating versus impression formation, and the behavioral consequences of stigma-discovery in real-world situations are discussed.
Subject Area
Social psychology
Recommended Citation
Ruscher, Janet Beth, "Skeleton out of the closet: How previously-concealed stigma affects on-going impressions" (1991). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9132907.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9132907