Examined the role of situational stigma salience on the metaperceptions and self-conscious concern of stigma-bearing targets. Participants interacted with a confederate while they were assigned randomly to one of three roles: control role, stigmatized role (no disclosure), stigmatized role (disclosure). In Experiment 1, bearing a concealable stigma resulted in greater paranoid social cognition (self-conscious concern, sinister attributions, negative attitudinal metaperceptions). Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1, and also showed that disclosure of the stigma magnified the paranoid social cognition effects. Implications of these findings for the understanding of the stigmatization experience, as well as for future research on individuals with long-term stigmas are discussed.

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