THE PERSONALITY OF THE STIGMATIZER - CULTURAL WORLD-VIEW, CONVENTIONALISM, AND SELF-ESTEEM

Two studies were conducted to investigate individual differences in the rejection of stigmatized people. In Study 1, two factors predicted rejection: (1) a cynical world view, characterized by alienation, loneliness, and little faith in people; and (2) conventionalism, characterized by authoritarianism and a belief in a just world. Self-relevant affect (e.g., self-esteem) did not predict rejection. In a second study, three ''student teachers'' delivered short lectures to a class: a depressive, a homosexual, and a baseball fan. A cynical world view predicted rejection and lower teaching evaluations of all three lecturers; conventionalism did not. The results are discussed in terms of the role that ideological and cultural world view plays in interpersonal relations. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.