Development of the Weight- and Body-Related Shame and Guilt Scale (WEB–SG) in a Nonclinical Sample of Obese Individuals

Abstract

In this article, we present the evaluation of the psychometric properties of a new self-report measure of Weight- and Body-Related Shame and Guilt (WEB-SG). The main purpose of the study was to measure shame and guilt feelings separately in obese individuals and investigate differing behavioral and emotional correlates of these emotions. Altogether, 331 obese participants completed the WEB-SG and other established self-report measures. A subset of the participants completed a 6-month follow-up. The WEB-SG proved to be internally consistent and temporally stable over a 6-month period. Regarding the factorial structure, a two-factor conceptualization was supported. The construct validity of the WEB-SG subscales was evidenced by a substantial overlap of common variance with related measures. The subscales Shame and Guilt showed differential correlation patterns to other scales. The WEB-SG is a brief, psychometrically sound measure for assessing body shame and guilt concerning weight control in obese individuals.

Weight stigma is stressful. A review of evidence for the Cyclic Obesity/Weight-Based Stigma model

“…Shame is a key emotional mechanism in the COBWEBS model because overweight and obesity elicit high levels of shame (Conradt et al, 2007). For example, Fredrickson and Roberts's (1997) objectification theory posits that cultural ideals of female beauty conspire to increase shame, and this is particularly evident among individuals with higher BMIs (Fredrickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn, & Twenge, 1998).…”

Body-Related Self-Conscious Emotions Relate to Physical Activity Motivation and Behavior in Men

“…Given that guilt arises in response to a specific behavior, and not the person as a whole, as is the case for shame, guilt is typically less painful than shame and may motivate reparative action in attempt to fix the transgression (Conradt et al, 2007;Sabiston et al, 2010). Consistent with this notion and generalized self-conscious emotion research, body-related guilt has been shown to be weakly or unrelated with psychopathological indicators (e.g., depression; Castonguay, Sabiston, Crocker, & Mack, 2014;Conradt et al, 2007;Kim, Thibodeau, & Jorgensen, 2011), and guilt has demonstrated positive associations with the prosocial behavior of physical activity (e.g., Sabiston et al, 2010;Teixeira, Carraca, Markland, Silva, & Ryan, 2012). Hence, guilt may predict positive health behaviors.…”

“…The Weight-and BodyRelated Shame and Guilt scale (WEB-SG; Conradt et al, 2007) is a 12-item measure assessing shame concerned about the body, figure, and weight (6 items; e.g., "I am ashamed of myself when others get to know how much I really weigh") and guilt concerned about eating habits, exercising, and weight control (6 items; e.g., "When I can't manage to work out physically, I feel guilty"). Item responses ranged from 0 (never) to 4 (always).…”

Is Information on Genetic Determinants of Obesity Helpful or Harmful for Obese People?—A Randomized Clinical Trial

“…Obesity-associated feelings of guilt were assessed by the subscale of the Weight-and-Body-Related Shame and Guilt Scale (WEB-SG). 12 Subscale scores for the 6 guilt items range from 0 to 24 with higher scores indicating more frequent feelings of guilt.…”