Fairness Through Awareness: Anticipated Stigma, Nonprofit “Know Your Rights” Information, and Perceptions of Bureaucratic Encounters

Does procedural knowledge change citizens’ perceptions of negative bureaucratic encounters? Previous research suggests that an individual’s tolerance for discourteous interactions with state authorities is grounded in their knowledge of administrative processes and identity-based reference points for anticipated stigma. This study considers how negative cues from bureaucrats and nonprofit information provision affect citizens’ perceptions of administrative burden, fairness, and bureaucrats’ performance for groups with different levels of anticipated stigma. Hypotheses are tested with two survey experiments simulating legal name change hearings sought for maiden name reversions (experiment 1) or gender transition (experiment 2). I find that negatively phrased bureaucrat language predicts increased perceived administrative burden for all but predicts decreased perceived performance only for non-stigmatized groups. Additionally, providing information on administrative procedures only improved perceptions of fair treatment after a negative interaction for groups anticipating stigma. Implications for citizen-state interaction research and identity-based reference points for perceptions of state authority are discussed.