Abstract
We develop a general measure of stigmatization based on an evolutionary analysis of social exclusion (Kurzban & Leary, 2001)—the General Evolutionary Motives for Stigmatization (GEMS) scale. The measure includes subscales for contagion, dangerousness, dishonesty, lack of mental resources, and lack of material resources. Study 1 provided initial validity information in the form of “stigma profiles” for different disparaged groups. Study 2 replicated and extended those findings and highlighted the utility of including an “average person” baseline. Studies 1 and 2 further demonstrated that the GEMS, together with a humanitarianism-egalitarianism measure (Katz & Hass, 1988), can predict ambivalent feelings about stigmatized groups. Limitations and potential uses of the measure are discussed.
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Notes
See supplementary material at https://osf.io/63zpe/?view_only=5e894f47315e48c19958da56b82dd405 for more details.
The term “ex-convict” is arguably pejorative. Indeed, in the year 2016, the United States Justice Department announced that it was discontinuing use of the term, replacing it with “person who committed a crime” and “individual who was incarcerated” (“Labels Like ‘Felon’ Are an Unfair Life Sentence,” 2016). Our use of the term simply reflected our belief that it would be the one most commonly used and easily understood by our participants.
Participants were also asked whether they considered themselves to be a member of the group they were rating, but due to ambiguous question wording (a large proportion of participants listed a group other than the given target groups, e.g., “college students,” with whom they themselves identified), these data were unusable.
Four of the five subscales were moderately skewed in either Study 1 or Study 2 but were distributed normally in the other. To maintain consistency across studies, no transformations were performed.
Intercorrelations between the GEMS subscales can be found in the Supplementary Material. All correlations were positive, and with one exception, significant at the p < .001 level. The magnitudes of these correlations, however, will fluctuate as a function of the specific target groups included. As noted by Streiner (2003), with causal indicator questionnaires, “the magnitude of the correlations may change radically from one population to another” (p. 220). Thus, if Study 1 had included only “people with schizophrenia,” “people with personality disorders,” and “people with bipolar disorder,” due to common perceptions (and misperceptions) of those groups, any given strong correlation between two subscales (e.g., Mental resources and Dangerousness) could be shared by all of the groups. The same would be true if it had included only “ex-convicts,” “gang members,” and “terrorists.”
No gender difference for overall stigma scores was found (males = 3.53, females = 3.45).
The term “illegal immigrant” (and even more so, “illegal alien”) is increasingly recognized as being pejorative. In 2021, the United States Department of Homeland Security replaced it with “noncitizen” in its documents and communications (Shear, 2021). We used the term as we believed it to be colloquially used and easily understood by our participants; nonetheless, it is not the one we would use today.
One participant did not respond to the question about ethnicity.
Subscale intercorrelations, all positive, can be found in the Supplemental material. Other than those involving contamination, all were significant at the p < .001 level. Differences between correlations for Studies 1 and 2 are due the different mix of groups evaluated in Study 2 (see Footnote 5).
Theoretically, then, cell means in Fig. 3 could have ranged from -10 to + 10.
As in Study 1, there was no gender difference for overall stigma scores (males = 2.91, females = 2.86).
We thank an anonymous reviewer for highlighting this issue.
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Leonard Newman, Ying Tang, and Daria Bakina were involved in the data collection and analysis; Leonard Newman and Ying Tang took the lead in the writing of the manuscript. The authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Group Descriptions
As you know, in this study, participants are asked to report their attitudes toward and beliefs about members of different groups. You will be asked to report your thoughts and feelings about...
PEOPLE WITH MENTAL ILLNESS. The phrase “people with mental illness” should be understood to refer to people who have been diagnosed with a severe mental illness such as schizophrenia and who have at one point in their lives been hospitalized because of the problems that their illness has caused them.
PEOPLE WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES. For the purpose of this study, the phrase “people with physical disabilities” should be understood to refer to people who are permanently confined to wheelchairs and/or have lost one or more limbs as a result of an accident.
PEOPLE WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES. The phrase “people with intellectual disabilities” should be understood to refer to people whose intellectual functioning level is below average, as measured by standard intelligence tests. They are more commonly referred to as “mentally retarded.”
EX-CONVICTS. The term “ex-convicts” should be understood to refer to people who committed felonies in the past and were incarcerated (imprisoned) for a significant period of time.
POOR PEOPLE. The phrase “poor people” should be understood to refer to people experiencing prolonged financial difficulties that have made it difficult for them to get access to adequate food, clothing, and shelter.
PEOPLE WITH HIV/AIDS. The phrase “people with HIV/AIDS” should be understood to refer to people who have been infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which attacks their immune system and puts them at increased risk for many health problems.
OBESE PEOPLE. The phrase “obese people” should be understood to refer to people who not only weigh over 20 percent more than their ideal weight (typically, 30 or so pounds), but who would be identified as being “fat” by most people.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. For the purpose of this study, the phrase “illegal immigrants” should be understood to refer to people who have entered the United States via illegal means or procedures and have remained in the country to live, work, or study without a legal status.
AVERAGE OR TYPICAL PEOPLE. When making judgments about “average or typical people,” you should think in terms of what most people are like–that is, how the typical person you encounter is likely to think, feel, and behave.
Appendix B: GEMS Items
Mental resources |
|---|
1. It is hard to get them to understand complicated ideas or instructions |
2. They can be hard to work with because they are sometimes childlike |
3. It takes them a long time to complete even simple tasks |
4. You never know what they are going to say next |
5. Some of the things they like to do seem odd to me |
6. More than other people, they can behave very differently from day to day |
Material resources |
7. I would hesitate to share things with them, because they might have nothing to give in return |
8. If I lent one of them money, it is likely I would not get it back |
9. I would not be surprised if one of them asked to borrow money from me |
10. I worry that they might be jealous of what I have |
11. Finding out how much they earn and own might make me uncomfortable |
Dishonesty |
12. If something of mine was missing, I might suspect one of them of having taken it |
13. They often find ways to take advantage of the system |
14. I generally have to be concerned about whether they will take advantage of me |
15. I do not find it easy to trust them |
16. I worry that they might engage in dishonest activities |
Danger |
17. They can seem dangerous to me |
18. I don’t feel very safe when one of them is near me |
19. I might be worried that they would physically injure someone |
20. They might suddenly behave in a violent way |
21. If I heard about an act of random violence, I might suspect that one of them was to blame |
Contagion |
22. I would feel comfortable embracing one of them |
23. I would not hesitate to sip from the same glass as one of them |
24. I would have no difficulty sharing a meal with one of them |
25. If one of them needed help getting dressed, I would not mind helping him or her |
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Newman, L., Tang, Y. & Bakina, D.A. A General, Theory-Based Measure of Stigmatization (the GEMS): Development and an Application. Evolutionary Psychological Science 8, 30–45 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-021-00309-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-021-00309-6