Stigma is a universal social phenomenon of significant importance to
our understanding of social cognition. Stigma, and in-group out-group distinctions,
have been shown to affect perception of emotions, intentions, and actions
of people marked as members of a stigmatized category. Noting the lack of literature
that conceptually organizes the concepts of stigma and empathy this paper
reviews the relevant literature and proposes an organizing principle. This principle
is derived from the continuum of social understanding. This principle states
that the amount, and type, of information available on each point of this continuum
enables stigmatization and empathy, to greater or lesser degrees.