Attributions of dangerousness and stigmatization

Abstract

This study empirically assesses whether the attribution of dangerousness to a deviant group can be justified as a valid contributing factor to the stigmatization of that group. The research hypothesis is that the greater the public attribution of dangerousness to a deviant group, the greater the group members are stigmatized in public opinion. Respondents to a mail questionnaire (N = 150) were asked to rate the dangerousness of and the degree to which they stigmatized members of eight different deviant groups: recovered alcoholics, ex‐mental hospital patients, ex‐patients of psychiatrists, ex‐murder convicts, ex‐shoplifters, ex‐homosexuals, recovered drug addicts, and ex‐tuberculosis patients. A newspaper and magazine search for articles depicting incidents that pertained to the phenomenon under study was also conducted. Analysis of data from both the questionnaire and newspaper/magazine search strongly support the dangerousness‐stigmatization hypothesis. Implications of the findings are discussed.