Pride and Prejudice: The role of self-efficacy in stigma

Abstract

As part of a multidisciplinary approach to Identity, this paper takes a psychological perspective to the role of self-efficacy in stigma theory. Maintaining a positive sense of self is a central feature of research into stigmatised identities. Breakwell (1993) suggests that there are four motivational principles which are essential to this; self-esteem, continuity, distinctiveness and self-efficacy, yet within the stigma literature only self-esteem seems to be mentioned and it appears to be used as a general term to cover all the other principles. This is important to the work on stigma because as Bandura (1986: 395) suggests, self-efficacy allows the individual to ‘produce their own future, rather than simply foretell it’.   This study extends the work of Bruffell (2015) and examines the role of self-efficacy in stigma theory with young mothers living in hostels in the south-east of England. Interviews were analysed with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and semantic content and language use were explored to identify common themes arising within the interviewees’/women’s accounts. Findings from this study indicate that having a baby provides young mothers with the opportunity to create and maintain a positive sense of self-efficacy, which might play a role in ameliorating the negative effects of living with a stigmatised label. Moreover, it would appear that whilst traditional views of stigma might have conflated the concepts of self-esteem and self-efficacy, these findings suggest that these two concepts may operate independently.