“…Smith (2007) and Meisenbach (2010) propose stigma communication theory and stigma communication management theory, respectively, to study how stigma unfolds and progresses. However, this body of research just started to develop with many conceptual (e.g., Smith & Hughes, 2014; Stearns, 2014), but limited empirical studies (Striley, 2014). Smith (2007) describes stigmatization as “messages spread through communities to teach their members to recognize the disgraced and to react accordingly” (p. 464).…”