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Applying Identity Theory to the Study of Stigmatized Identities

Westermann Ayers, Lindsey L.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1406305246

Abstract Details

2014, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology.
This dissertation applies structural identity theory to the study of stigmatized identities. Structural identity theory connects social structure to individual behavior through aspects of role identities. Specifically, structural identity theorists argue that one’s position in social structure impacts how committed one is to a role identity. The more committed one is to an identity, the more salient that identity becomes relative to others. The salience of the identity, in turn, increases behaviors or performance related to that identity. Expanded versions of the model also account for the ways in which factors such as identity cognition and the prominence of an identity increase salience and role-related behaviors. While identity theory has been relatively successful in predicting behaviors associated with normative, positively-evaluated identities, negatively-evaluated or stigmatized identities have been comparatively underexplored. Moreover, although the theory is broadly cited, tests examining the full model are rare. Within stigma literature, researchers have focused primarily on individual-level aspects of stigmatization. Despite scholars’ recent efforts to address critiques of stigma research, social location and relationships - strengths of the structural identity theory approach - remain less central. Moreover, although both stigma and identity scholarship derive from common symbolic interactionist roots, the literatures have rarely been directly linked at the level of identity and through identity theory, in particular. For this dissertation, I link identity and stigma literatures by examining the extent to which concepts and relationships central to structural identity theory research can explain stigmatized identity processes. In particular, I use structural equation modeling of telephone interview data (N=327) to examine whether identity processes operate the same for those with stigmatized health identities as has been proposed and empirically demonstrated for those with normative identities. Findings were mixed, but generally show that relationships among identity cognition and prominence matter with respect to stigmatized identity processes. These findings hold across mental and physical health stigma identities, with some distinctions between the two groups. Taken together, the findings suggest that some aspects of the structural identity process operate similarly for those with stigmatized identities, while others may not. Future research is needed to further explicate these relationships.
Kristen Marcussen, PhD (Committee Chair)
Emily Asencio, PhD (Committee Member)
Willie Harrell, PhD (Committee Member)
Christian Ritter, PhD (Committee Member)
Richard Serpe, PhD (Committee Member)
John Updegraff, PhD (Committee Member)
118 p.
Health; Social Psychology; Sociology
identity theory; stigmatized identities; mental health; physical health

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Westermann Ayers, L. L. (2014). Applying Identity Theory to the Study of Stigmatized Identities [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1406305246

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Westermann Ayers, Lindsey. Applying Identity Theory to the Study of Stigmatized Identities. 2014. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1406305246.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Westermann Ayers, Lindsey. "Applying Identity Theory to the Study of Stigmatized Identities." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1406305246

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1406305246
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© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.