stigma

Definitions of Stigma

1. (noun) The social phenomenon or process whereby individuals that are taken to be different in some way are rejected by the greater society in with they live based on that difference.
2. (noun) Labels that associate people with unfavorable or disapproved behavior and characteristics.

Stigma Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: stig·ma

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈstɪɡmə/
• British English – /ˈstɪɡmə/

Usage Notes

• Plural: stigmas
• While stigma is typically seen as negative, it can also be seen as “positive” i.e. something that benefits an individual (e.g., praise for being wealthy or beautiful).
• Also called social stigma.

Related Videos

Additional Information

• Sex and Gender Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “stigma” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Chan, Kit Yee, Arattha Rungpueng, and Daniel D. Reidpath. 2009. “AIDS and the Stigma of Sexual Promiscuity: Thai Nurses’ Risk Perceptions of Occupational Exposure to HIV.” Culture, Health and Sexuality 11(4):353–68. doi:10.1080/13691050802621161.
• Goffman, Erving. 1963. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
• Green, Gill. 2009. The End of Stigma? Changes in the Experience of Long-term Illness. London: Routledge.
• Howarth, Caroline. 2006. “Race as Stigma: Positioning the Stigmatized as Agents, Not Objects.” Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology 16(6):442–51. doi:10.1002/casp.898.
• Hunt, Paul. 1966. Stigma: The Experience of Disability. London: Chapman.
• Nettleton, Sarah. 2013. The Sociology of Health and Illness. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Schur, Edwin M. 1983. Labeling Women Deviant: Gender, Stigma, and Social Control. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
• Takahashi, Lois. 1998. Homelessness, AIDS, and Stigmatization: The NIMBY Syndrome in the United States at the End of the Twentieth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Related Terms

• ageism
• demedicalization
• deviance
• discrimination
• disease
• health
• medicalization
• prejudice
• racism
• sizism
• stereotype

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Cite the Definition of Stigma

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “stigma.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 25, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/stigma/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

stigma. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/stigma/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “stigma.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 25, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/stigma/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“stigma.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/stigma/>.