Although attitudes toward people who have sought psychological counseling have been characterized as negative and stigmatizing, research suggests the public holds no prejudice toward the mentally ill. To examine whether the apparent decrease in negative attitudes toward people involved in psychological treatment is more superficial than real, two…

In recent years psychological studies of homosexuality have shifted in focus from homosexually-oriented persons to individuals manifesting homophobia, the irrational fear or intolerance of homosexuals. In a pilot study, 130 college students completed a preliminary questionnaire consisting of attitudes toward homosexuals and homosexuality. Two…

Although social gerontologists recognize the heterogeneous nature of elderly populations, they have relied on the use of aggregate data and chronological age rather than sociological variables in their research. The notion of stigma, as developed by Goffman (1963), applied to the elderly focuses on social relationships rather than individual…

Students from grades one through five participated in a study to investigate whether elementary school children stereotype older people and, more specifically, whether they stereotype older people by sex. Photographs of a young woman, a young man, an old woman, and an old man were shown to the subjects, who were then asked to select from each of…

Heterosexism, as defined in this paper, designates those central social structures that advocate heterosexuality as the only natural sexual interest. The cluster of social mores that constitute heterosexist attitudes is defined and described, with illustrations from various contexts showing both the subtle and the overt ways in which these…

A study examined Hispanic perceptions of discriminatory behavior by Anglos, exploring four dimensions of perceived discrimination: the contexts/situations where Hispanics discern discrimination, the attributes perceived by Hispanics as eliciting discriminatory behavior, the characteristics of those Anglos perceived to be most likely to…

Since 1955, deinstitutionalization has brought 1.5 million chronic mental patients back into the community. Studies have shown that perception and citizen support of this population vary greatly. To investigate responses to encounters with chronic mental patients in public settings, 160 college students responded to vignettes manipulated for four…

The issue of contempt expressed towards the aged was examined from a cross-cultural perspective. Eight reasons for expressions of contempt emerged from a study of 95 societies drawn from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, and were treated as independent variables, with the overall level of contempt as the dependent variable, in a application of…

Following methods previously developed, this study investigated the social stigma associated with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by placing 90 telephone calls to landlords advertising rooms for rent in each of three Canadian cities: Windsor, Toronto, and Halifax. Compared to control conditions, calls ostensibly from AIDS patients were…

There are two new terms I have coined recently that form the basis for these remarks. The two terms and their definitions are: Vocational Educationism, defined as a bigoted, biased view of vocational education; and Vocational Educationist, defined as a person who is suffering from or afflicted with vocational educationism. Stated in its crudest,…

A minority group is a social category involving a clearly differentiated subpopulation within a larger collectivity on the basis of some common set of characteristics which are negatively evaluated by the dominant members of the collectivity. The following characteristics are attributed to negative evaluation: (1) members experience pejorative…

The absence of peace is one of the greatest threats to the continued existence of life on this planet. This paper uses the definition of peace given by the General Conference of UNESCO at its 18th session, whereby peace is seen as a process, not an event. Education is vital to eliminating prejudice, which is the foundation of injustice, disunity,…

Prevailing animosity toward blacks in New England prior to the Civil War is demonstrated in this case study of Prudence Crandall's attempt to establish a school for Negro girls in Canterbury, Connecticut, in 1833. Prudence Crandall, a quaker schoolmistress, was the successful proprietor of a school for girls from socially prominent families in…

How interracial contact affects the attitudes of blacks towards whites is explored in this study, which also delineates the personality characteristics predictive of prejudice and prejudice changes, and how these characteristics differ between blacks and whites. The sample includes 112 male inmates; 63 blacks and 49 whites, who are newly admitted…

Attitudes about the role of women in higher education were examined in this research study that surveyed (1) opinions and attitudes of selected faculty men toward faculty women, and (2) opinions and attitudes of selected faculty women toward other faculty women. The population surveyed was all full-time faculty of the institutions of higher…