Disgust, contempt, and anger and the stereotypes of obese people

Purpose: Emotions form an important part of stereotyping and prejudice, but little is known about how intergroup emotions are associated with anti-fat prejudice. This study examined the relation between negative intergroup emotions (disgust, contempt, and anger) and the stereotypes of obese people. Method: A community sample (n = 380) and an undergraduate sample (n = 96) rated obese people on common obesity stereotypes (e.g., lazy, sloppy), and also indicated the extent to which they felt disgust, contempt, and anger toward obese people. Results: In both samples, participants reported feeling more disgust and contempt than anger toward obese people. Furthermore, regression analyses indicated that disgust was a significant positive predictor of obesity stereotypes, but contempt and anger were not. Conclusion: Overall, these findings provide further evidence that disgust plays an important role in prejudice toward obese people

Social comparisons on social media: THE impact of Facebook on young women's body image concerns and mood

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. The present study experimentally investigated the effect of Facebook usage on women's mood and body image, whether these effects differ from an online fashion magazine, and whether appearance comparison tendency moderates any of these effects. Female participants (. N=. 112) were randomly assigned to spend 10. min browsing their Facebook account, a magazine website, or an appearance-neutral control website before completing state measures of mood, body dissatisfaction, and appearance discrepancies (weight-related, and face, hair, and skin-related). Participants also completed a trait measure of appearance comparison tendency. Participants who spent time on Facebook reported being in a more negative mood than those who spent time on the control website. Furthermore, women high in appearance comparison tendency reported more facial, hair, and skin-related discrepancies after Facebook exposure than exposure to the control website. Given its popularity, more research is needed to better understand the impact that Facebook has on appearance concerns

Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Current Research and Future Directions

This paper provides an overview of research on social media and body image. Correlational studies consistently show that social media usage (particularly Facebook) is associated with body image concerns among young women and men, and longitudinal studies suggest that this association may strengthen over time. Furthermore, appearance comparisons play a role in the relationship between social media and body image. Experimental studies, however, suggest that brief exposure to one's own Facebook account does not negatively impact young women's appearance concerns. Further longitudinal and experimental research is needed to determine which aspects of social media are most detrimental to people's body image concerns. Research is also needed on more diverse samples as well as other social media platforms (e.g., Instagram)

Perceived femininity and weight as a function of meal size

grantor: University of TorontoIn four studies, I explored the role of dietary restraint in judgments of body size based on meal size. In Study 1, restrained and unrestrained eaters watched a video of a woman eating either a small meal or a large meal. Participants were then asked to select which of two photographs of women (a heavier one or a thinner one) was the person whom they had just seen in the video. Restrained eaters in the small-meal condition were much more likely to choose the thinner target; unrestrained eaters we unaffected by the meal-size manipulation in their selection of the target photograph. These findings are consistent with previous work (Vartanian, 2000) demonstrating that restrained eaters (but not unrestrained eaters) judge women who eat smaller meals as being thinner and weighing less than women who eat larger meals. The next three studies were designed to explore certain specific differences between restrained and unrestrained eaters that could help to explain the observed differences in body-size judgments. Studies 2 and 3 focused on restraint differences in inhibitory-control functioning. In both studies, participants completed a garden-path-sentence task, which assessed implicit recall of task-relevant and task-irrelevant information. If inhibitory control is functioning optimally, individuals should recall only task-relevant information. In Study 2, unrestrained eaters recalled only task-relevant information, whereas restrained eaters tended to recall both task-relevant and task-irrelevant information, suggesting that they are less capable of suppressing or deleting irrelevant information. In Study 3, the instructions were modified slightly to guard against potential group differences in attention due to restrained eaters' perfectionistic tendencies. The pattern of results was directly opposite to that found in Study 2. Study 4 focused on group differences in personal beliefs about the connection between food intake and body weight/size. Restrained eaters were more likely to believe that the amount of food that one eats is predictive of one's body weight, whereas unrestrained eaters were more likely to believe that one's weight is fixed and genetically determined. The discussion focuses on the importance of these personal beliefs in social judgments, as well as in other areas such as one's own personal behavior., The aim of the present study was to determine whether mode of target presentation (video versus verbal) moderates the influence of meal size on perceptions of women's weight and body size. A second purpose was to determine whether differences in perceived weight mediated perceptions of femininity and masculinity. Participants were presented with either a video or written description of a woman eating either a small or large meal, and rated the targets on measures of femininity, masculinity, and weight. Whether presented verbally or visually, women who ate smaller meals were seen as more feminine and less masculine than were women who ate larger meals. In addition, restrained eaters (dieters) but not unrestrained eaters (non-dieters) perceived women who ate smaller meals as being thinner and weighing less than women who ate larger meals. Findings are discussed in terms of the different cognitive schemas held by dieters and non-dieters.M.A

The Stigma of obesity surgery : negative evaluations based on weight loss history

BACKGROUND: The present study investigated the stigma of obesity surgery by examining whether attitudes towards a lean person can change after learning that the person used to be obese but recently lost weight either through surgery or through diet and exercise. METHODS: Participants (total N = 135) initially viewed an image of a lean woman or man and rated their impression of that individual on a variety of characteristics. Participants were then shown an image of the individual before she/he lost weight and were informed that the weight loss was achieved through surgery or through diet and exercise. Participants once again rated their impressions of that individual. RESULTS: After learning about the previous weight loss, participants rated the individual who lost weight through surgery as significantly more lazy and sloppy, less competent and sociable, less attractive, and having less healthy eating habits. The individual who lost weight through diet and exercise, in contrast, was not evaluated as harshly. Mediation analysis further showed that the difference between the two weight loss conditions in ratings of laziness, competence, and sociability was due to participants viewing surgery patients as less responsible for their weight loss. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that learning about someone's weight history can negatively impact the way that person is seen by others. Furthermore, these findings suggest that the stigma may be strongest for people who lose weight through obesity surgery because those individuals are not seen as being responsible for their weight loss.6 page(s

Serving-size information on nutrition labels in Australia

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Negative comparisons about one's appearance mediate the relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns

a b s t r a c t Use of social media, such as Facebook, is pervasive among young women. Body dissatisfaction is also highly prevalent in this demographic. The present study examined the relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns among female university students (N = 227), and tested whether appearance comparisons on Facebook in general, or comparisons to specific female target groups (family members, close friends, distant peers [women one may know but do not regularly socialize with], celebrities) mediated this relationship. Results showed a positive relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns, which was mediated by appearance comparisons in general, frequency of comparisons to close friends and distant peers, and by upward comparisons (judging one's own appearance to be worse) to distant peers and celebrities. Thus, young women who spend more time on Facebook may feel more concerned about their body because they compare their appearance to others (especially to peers) on Facebook

Reducing the stigma of bariatric surgery : benefits of providing information about necessary lifestyle changes

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether providing information about the lifestyle changes required for an individual to lose weight following bariatric surgery would mitigate the negative judgments of that individual. Methods: In an experimental design, participants provided their initial impressions of a woman with obesity before learning that she had lost a significant amount of weight through: (1) diet/exercise, (2) surgery, or (3) surgery + diet/exercise. Participants then provided their impressions of the woman after she had lost weight. Results: For ratings of laziness, competence, and responsibility for weight loss, the individual who lost weight through surgery was rated most negatively, followed by the individual who lost weight through surgery + diet/exercise, with the individual who lost weight through diet/exercise alone rated as least lazy, most competent, and most responsible for her weight loss. Mediation analyses further showed that group differences in target ratings of laziness/competence were due to perceptions of responsibility for weight loss. Conclusions: Providing information about the lifestyle changes required for losing weight following bariatric surgery can somewhat dampen the negative evaluations of surgery patients. These findings also highlight the importance of perceived effort in judgments of individuals with obesity.5 page(s

Negative comparisons about one's appearance mediate the relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns

Use of social media, such as Facebook, is pervasive among young women. Body dissatisfaction is also highly prevalent in this demographic. The present study examined the relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns among female university students (N = 227), and tested whether appearance comparisons on Facebook in general, or comparisons to specific female target groups (family members, close friends, distant peers [women one may know but do not regularly socialize with], celebrities) mediated this relationship. Results showed a positive relationship between Facebook usage and body image concerns, which was mediated by appearance comparisons in general, frequency of comparisons to close friends and distant peers, and by upward comparisons (judging one's own appearance to be worse) to distant peers and celebrities. Thus, young women who spend more time on Facebook may feel more concerned about their body because they compare their appearance to others (especially to peers) on Facebook.7 page(s