Social stigma and self-esteem: Situational construction of self-worth

Many classic analyses of stigmatization assume that negative images and ste reotypes are internalized, resulting in stable low self-esteem in the stigm atized across many situations. I argue here that the self-esteem of the sti gmatized is constructed in the situation and depends on both the collective representations, or shared meanings, that people bring with them to the si tuation and features of the situation that make those collective representa tions relevant or irrelevant when evaluating the self. Thus, self-esteem in the stigmatized may be higher, lower, or the same as self-esteem in the no nstigmatized, and it may change from situation to situation if the collecti ve representations that are relevant in those situations differ. Previous r esearch consistent with this perspective is reviewed and implications of th is analysis for the study of social stigma, and group differences more gene rally, are considered, (C) 1999 Academic Press.