Malleability of Self-Concept Under Conditions of Stigmatization

This work proposes the author's model of self-concept malleability under conditions of stigmatization. The model is based on three elements: 1. Behavior of individuals; 2. Evaluation of their behavior; 3. Beliefs about the evaluation of their behavior by others. 10 topless dancers were interviewed as members of a stigmatized group. The results of the participant observation were an additional source of information. Based on gathered data the phenomenology of processes predicted by the model was described. The stigma that dancers face and characteristics of adaptation to it, including the principles of choosing the environment (“friends won't judge”), were described. The elements of “benevolent stigmatization” (“you can become a normal person”) and the desire of respondents not to regret their lives were discussed (“my mistakes are fun”). The transformation of attitudes towards striptease from complete rejection (“this is prostitution”) to positive attitudes (“this is art”) was described, as well as the characteristics of the club's environment that induce the transformation of beliefs.