The effect of weight controllability beliefs on prejudice and self-efficacy

Thorsteinsson, Einar B.; Loi, Natasha M.; Breadsell, Dana

doi:10.7287/peerj.preprints.1701v1

Cited by 1 publication

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“…First, the first perspective – weight is controllable – is by and far the most dominant perspective. The consequences, then, become critical to document: controllability of body size (and blame on the larger‐bodied person) predicts feelings of disgust, bias, dislike, even hatred towards a larger‐bodied person (Black et al., 2014; Ksinan, Almenara, & Vaculik, 2017; Puhl & Liu, 2015; Saguy & Riley, 2005; Thorsteinsson, Loi, & Breadsell, 2016). The dual frames of healthism and controllability may help researchers break down an observer’s decision‐making process as they process these common emotions about larger‐bodied colleague, such as examining what prompts an emotion of disgust to transform into an action of incivility towards a larger‐bodied colleague.…”

Section: Foreground: Weight‐based Stigma Through the Lens Of Objectif...mentioning

confidence: 99%

A primer with purpose: Research implications of the objectification of weight in the workplace

Lemmon

Jensen

Kuljanin

2021

J Occupat & Organ Psyc

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We offer a primer for researchers who seek to carry out studies that evaluate the lived experience of larger‐bodied workers. We use objectification theory to describe the process by which intraculturally‐determined body size preferences impact how observers think about and react to larger‐bodied colleagues, and how these larger‐bodied colleagues internalize and cope with these judgements. Arguing that exploration of the objectification of larger‐bodied professionals is incomplete without the use of multidisciplinary lenses, we describe mechanisms that reinforce weight stigma, including the role of healthism‐based value systems, intersectionality, and body image. We conclude the primer by outlining areas for new research that highlights burgeoning applied demand for more nuanced, evidence‐based discussions of weight at work. Practitioner points In professional spaces, many workers feel comfortable “objectifying” their colleagues who occupy larger (i.e., “overweight”/”obese”) bodies. This means that workers (a) constantly compare their colleagues’ bodies to a “thin” standard, (b) feel a certain comfort in remarking on their larger‐bodied colleagues’ size, and (c) this judgment feeds into a cycle of self‐consciousness and self‐dislike that many larger‐bodied workers feel about themselves. This objectification process can be doubly harmful to the well‐being of larger‐bodied workers when they, too, occupy a secondary marginalized identity/ies, such as being female or of a minority ethnicity. The motivation for objectification comes from broader Western culture, which views the pursuit of health as a value that all people should pursue. Workers often assume their larger‐bodied colleagues are not pursuing health simply because of their size and can feel punitive toward them as a result. Organizational remedies for this objectification process include educational programming and training to talk about the myriad ways “health” may be realized; more precise information about the complex origin’s of one’s body size; education around how marginalization of larger‐bodied colleagues does not stimulate effective action, but instead harms these colleague’s mental health (and beyond).

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