Appraising Stigmatization and Discrimination: Construction and Validation of a Questionnaire Assessing Threat and Challenge Appraisals to Personal and Social Identity

Building on research on identity and stress, the Primary Appraisal of Identity Threat scale was developed to assess situational appraisals of identity threats in terms of threats and challenges to personal and social identity. Study 1 tested the structure of the questionnaire: 230 participants with physical disabilities completed the 20 items of the Primary Appraisal of Identity Threat scale and a self-esteem measure. The aim of Study 2 was to replicate the structure with a heterogeneous sample facing discrimination and to validate the instrument by studying the relationships between scale scores and measures of personal and collective self-esteem, perceptions and attributions of discrimination, and suffering in connection with discrimination. The aim of Study 3 was to determine how women answered the questionnaire after their personal or social identity had been threatened versus not threatened. Across studies, findings were consistent with theory-based expectations.