Labels

Labeling Theory

Labeling theory focuses on how individuals are affected by the labels they are assigned and how it changes the ways others treat them. For example, in one classic social psychology study by Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, researchers labeled some students in a classroom “Bloomers” who would experience substantial gains in IQ over the next year. The teachers were told which of the children had received each label. This label, however, had no basis in reality—the researchers had assigned the labels completely randomly. Over time, however, the students labeled Bloomers showed substantial gains in their IQ, presumably because this label caused teachers to treat them more favorably.

This effect is called the Pygmalion Effect: We have an expectation of how someone will behave, and then we treat them differently according to this expectation, which then causes them to behave in the way we expected. Psychologists have proposed that this may be one factor that contributes to group differences in academic achievement. People hold a stereotype that Asian and white students are smarter than black and Hispanic students, which may cause teachers to treat Asian and white students more favorably and to challenge them to grow and achieve more. This, in turn, may create different levels of achievement between the groups.

Labeling theory suggests that the dominant culture deems certain people, acts, and behaviors as deviant. However, the things that are categorized as deviant depend on the time and place within which they occur: deviance is socially constructed. For example, laws against interracial marriage were once commonplace, but as attitudes changed, interracial marriage was no longer labeled as deviant, and these laws were repealed. Alabama was the last state to repeal anti-interracial marriage laws in 2000.

Labeling theory also explores how labels affect perceptions of whether someone is committing a deviant act. A prime example occurred during the news reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which created devastation and desperate situations for millions of people living in Louisiana. Photos featuring African Americans taking food from a supermarket described them as “looters,” whereas Euro-Americans were not labeled as such. In this case, biases against African Americans caused their behaviors to be labeled as deviant, whereas whites were spared this label. Labeling theory suggests that the mere categorization of an individual as African American triggers stereotypes associated with their racial/ethnic group, which then alters perceptions of their behaviors.

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