Published: 2025-12-22

Stigmatization

Anna Cegieła

Abstract

Observation of the causes and consequences of assigning an undeserved stigma indicates that this process may take one of two forms. On the one hand, stigmatization may function as a form of discrimination and result from cognitive deficits on the part of the stigmatizer. On the other hand, it may be intentional and employed as a means of undermining opponents in a dispute. In both cases, stigmatization leads to suffering and identity-related difficulties in stigmatized individuals. Language, however, provides resources for counteracting this process. It enables the replacement of stigmatizing labels with expressions that do not reduce individuals to a single negative trait but instead describe them as persons who possess a specific distinguishing feature.

Keywords:

stigma, stigmatization, stereotype, discrimination, identity, otherness

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Cegieła, A. (2025). Stigmatization. Poradnik Językowy, 829(10), 20–30. Retrieved from https://www.journals.polon.uw.edu.pl/index.php/pj/article/view/1980

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