Do popular attitudinal scales perpetuate negative attitudes towards persons who have sexually offended?

Stigma directed towards persons with convictions for sexual offences and its potentially risk enhancing effects has prompted a growing body of research on public attitudes towards individuals who have sexually offended, including attitude measurement. However, many questions in attitudinal scales use the "sex offender" label, which potentially perpetuates stigma. The current study, which was part of a larger study examining effects of offence-based labels, sought to examine whether responses on an attitudinal scale would differ when person-first language was used instead of the "sex offender" label. Participants (N = 372) were randomly assigned to a label condition or person-first language condition and completed an anonymous online survey that included a popular attitudinal scale. A small, significant effect of labelling was observed: offence-based labels were associated with more negative attitudes than neutral descriptors. Implications for future research are discussed.