stigma-based solidarity
Definition
Stigma-based solidarity refers to coalition-building and mutual support among members of different social groups who face societal marginalization, motivated by shared experiences of discrimination and a sense of linked fate or common goals in combating inequality. This form of solidarity can be activated through salient awareness of group-based discrimination, which may trigger a superordinate identity and increase positive attitudes and coalitional behavior toward other stigmatized groups. However, stigma-based solidarity is fragile and can be disrupted by perceived competition for resources, threats to subgroup distinctiveness, or perceived violations of implicit norms of loyalty and mutual support—what may be experienced as betrayal when members of marginalized groups fail to demonstrate expected solidarity with one another.
Sources: Shackleford et al. (2026)
Related Terms
Applications
Stigma-based Solidarity and Betrayal
When members of marginalized groups violate expectations for loyalty and mutual support toward other stigmatized groups, such violations are experienced as betrayal. Betrayal in the context of stigma-based solidarity is especially salient because marginalized groups are thought to share interdependence for mutual safety and advancement; violation of these implicit cooperative norms reduces trust and cooperation intentions.
Sources: Shackleford et al. (2026)
Stigma-based Solidarity and Cross-group Political Alliances
Stigma-based solidarity is essential to forming and sustaining cross-group political alliances capable of challenging societal injustice and resisting the rise of ethno-nationalist movements. The emergence and experience of stigma-based solidarity betrayal may undermine the promise of these alliances by reducing trust and willingness to cooperate across marginalized groups.
Sources: Shackleford et al. (2026)
Stigma-based Solidarity and Shared Discrimination
Shared experiences of group-based discrimination can activate stigma-based solidarity by promoting perception of commonality and linked fate among members of different marginalized groups, yet the salience of discrimination also can lead to reduced solidarity when discrimination is perceived as a distinctive threat to one's own ingroup rather than as a shared experience.
Sources: Shackleford et al. (2026)
