Special Topics in Psychology

This course will focus on the social and psychological experience of stigma, particularly from the perspective of the stigmatized individual. In discussing the experience of the stigmatized, we will focus on how they understand and interpret their stigmatization, how they cope with it, and how it affects their psychological well-being and cognitive functioning. As an example of stigmas negative consequences, the second half of the course will focus on stereotype threat the psychological discomfort felt by stereotyped individuals (such as women in male-dominated fields) when they are at risk of fulfilling a negative stereotype about their group.