Weight-related stigmatization and its impact on behavioral adaptations, affect, and parasympathetic activity during social information processing – a cross-cultural comparison
The aim of this thesis is to provide insights into how previous negative social experiences and/or societal norms concerning body size influence social information processing. The first two studies included in this thesis were conducted in Germany, a society with high level of prejudice towards individuals with obesity. The third study was conducted in American Samoa, a society with low prejudice towards individuals with obesity. Study one (chapter 5.1) investigated potential alterations in social information processing and behavior in individuals with obesity compared to lean individuals by measuring heart rate and reaction times. To identify potential reasons for alterations in the individual’s personal history, the influence of weight-related teasing on social information processing was analyzed. In the second study (chapter 5.2), I examined how individuals with and without obesity respond to social inclusion and social exclusion by measuring affect and heart rate. Of special interest were subjective factors of body dissatisfaction and teasing experiences as potential influencing factors. Following this approach, the second study became a “travelling experiment” and was repeated in a Polynesian group on American Samoa (chapter 5.3), a country with a high obesity rate, but less negative social outcomes for individuals with obesity. It aimed at studying the influence of cultural norms and values related to body size as well as varying weight-related stigmatization on psychophysiological processing in social situations.:1 Introduction
2 Theoretical Background
2.1 Social exclusion and behavior
2.1.1 Evolutionary origins of social exclusion and stigmatization
2.1.2 Adaptive behavioral responses to recurrent negative social feedback
2.2 Social exclusion and affect
2.2.1 General biological aspects of emotions
2.2.2 Cultural aspects of emotions
2.2.3 Affect after social exclusion
2.3 Social exclusion and parasympathetic cardio-regulation
2.3.1 Parasympathetic cardio-regulation in psychological research
2.3.2 Parasympathetic cardio-regulation during negative social feedback
2.3.3 Methodological issues
2.4 Obesity in Western societies
2.4.1 Prevalence and health consequences
2.4.2 Obesity and parasympathetic cardio-regulation
2.4.3 The stigma of obesity
2.4.4 Obesity and social information processing
2.5 Obesity and the Samoan Islands
2.5.1 Geography and population
2.5.2 Traditional diets, modernization, and obesity prevalence
2.5.3 Cultural differences in the perception of body sizes
2.5.4 Body size perception in the Samoan Islands
2.5.5 Affect in Samoa
3 Rationale of the Experimental Work
4 Methods
4.1 Autonomic control of the heart
4.2 Heart rate variability analyses
5 Experimental Work
5.1 Study 1 – Differential heart rate responses to social and monetary reinforcement in women with obesity
5.2 Study 2 – Parasympathetic cardio-regulation during social interactions in individuals with obesity – The influence of negative body image
5.3 Study 3 – Body size-related socio-cultural norms in Westerners and Polynesians and their association with heart rate variability and affect during social interaction
5.3.1 Introduction
5.3.2 Methods
5.3.3 Results
5.3.4 Discussion
6 General Discussion and Implications
7 Summary
7.1 English summary
7.2 German summary
8 References
9 Appendix
9.1 Supplemental material
9.1.1 Participants: recruitment, inclusion and exclusion criteria
9.1.2 Overview procedures in Germany and American Samoa
9.1.3 Study 1
9.1.4 Study 2
9.1.5 Study 3
9.2 Declaration of authenticity
9.3 Authors' contributions
9.3.1 Study 1
9.3.2 Study 2
9.3.3 Study
