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Attempts to identify the master stigma, that characteristic of an individual that he believes to have the strongest negative effects on interactions with others, as perceived by students from four developing nations. Racial background was the master stigma only for the Nigerian students and being a foreigner was for the Iranian, Taiwanese, and Venezuelan students. (GG)

Three views of prestige of home countries as perceived by students from Iran, Nigeria, Taiwan, and Venezuela were examined in relation to the students' perceptions of their academic performance, their intelligence, and their physical appearance. The three views of a country's prestige were: perceptions of views held by friends in their home countries (one set of significant others); perceptions of views held by students in the United States (another set of significant others); and the perceptions of the students themselves. Overall, the prestige ratings were most strongly correlated with the students' own physical appearance ratings and then with their intelligence ratings. Variations of correlations by view and by country were also found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]