Anti-Fat Attitudes Towards Weight Gain Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic or by “Unhealthy” Lifestyle Choices
Given the ubiquity of anti-fat prejudice, in this experimental study, we tested whether weight gain attributed to COVID-19 would influence evaluations of overweight male and female targets. Female participants (<i>N</i> = 160) were randomly assigned to read one of four mock medical forms...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4168/5/2/41 |
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| author | Daniel Regan Mackenzie Bjornerud Mark J. Kiss Melanie A. Morrison Todd G. Morrison |
| author_facet | Daniel Regan Mackenzie Bjornerud Mark J. Kiss Melanie A. Morrison Todd G. Morrison |
| author_sort | Daniel Regan |
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| description | Given the ubiquity of anti-fat prejudice, in this experimental study, we tested whether weight gain attributed to COVID-19 would influence evaluations of overweight male and female targets. Female participants (<i>N</i> = 160) were randomly assigned to read one of four mock medical forms that outlined distractor medical information (e.g., blood requisition results), the sex of the target (male vs. female) and stated reason for weight gain (unhealthy lifestyle choices vs. inactivity due to the COVID-19 lockdown). Participants evaluated the patient on a series of binary adjectives (e.g., lazy/industrious), and completed measures assessing anti-fat attitudes (i.e., fear of becoming fat and belief in the controllability of weight), internalization of ideal standards of appearance, and BMI (i.e., self-reported weight and height). Contrary to our predictions, we found that overweight male and female patients were evaluated similarly regardless of whether their weight gain was attributable to unhealthy lifestyle choices or inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, believing that one’s weight is controllable and internalizing general standards of attractiveness correlated positively with fat disparagement of the medical patients. Participants’ BMI and fear of fat, however, were negligibly related to fat disparagement. Possible explanations for our findings, implications for healthcare settings, and directions for future research are explored. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a55e88086b0447bdae07e340af97572a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2673-4168 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Obesities |
| spelling | doaj-art-a55e88086b0447bdae07e340af97572a2025-08-20T02:21:52ZengMDPI AGObesities2673-41682025-06-01524110.3390/obesities5020041Anti-Fat Attitudes Towards Weight Gain Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic or by “Unhealthy” Lifestyle ChoicesDaniel Regan0Mackenzie Bjornerud1Mark J. Kiss2Melanie A. Morrison3Todd G. Morrison4School of Business, Maynooth University, W23 F2H6 Maynooth, IrelandDepartment of Psychology and Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A5, CanadaDepartment of Psychology and Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A5, CanadaDepartment of Psychology and Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A5, CanadaDepartment of Psychology and Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A5, CanadaGiven the ubiquity of anti-fat prejudice, in this experimental study, we tested whether weight gain attributed to COVID-19 would influence evaluations of overweight male and female targets. Female participants (<i>N</i> = 160) were randomly assigned to read one of four mock medical forms that outlined distractor medical information (e.g., blood requisition results), the sex of the target (male vs. female) and stated reason for weight gain (unhealthy lifestyle choices vs. inactivity due to the COVID-19 lockdown). Participants evaluated the patient on a series of binary adjectives (e.g., lazy/industrious), and completed measures assessing anti-fat attitudes (i.e., fear of becoming fat and belief in the controllability of weight), internalization of ideal standards of appearance, and BMI (i.e., self-reported weight and height). Contrary to our predictions, we found that overweight male and female patients were evaluated similarly regardless of whether their weight gain was attributable to unhealthy lifestyle choices or inactivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, believing that one’s weight is controllable and internalizing general standards of attractiveness correlated positively with fat disparagement of the medical patients. Participants’ BMI and fear of fat, however, were negligibly related to fat disparagement. Possible explanations for our findings, implications for healthcare settings, and directions for future research are explored.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4168/5/2/41anti-fat attitudesCOVID-19attributionsfear of fatattractivenessbody image |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Regan Mackenzie Bjornerud Mark J. Kiss Melanie A. Morrison Todd G. Morrison Anti-Fat Attitudes Towards Weight Gain Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic or by “Unhealthy” Lifestyle Choices Obesities anti-fat attitudes COVID-19 attributions fear of fat attractiveness body image |
| title | Anti-Fat Attitudes Towards Weight Gain Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic or by “Unhealthy” Lifestyle Choices |
| title_full | Anti-Fat Attitudes Towards Weight Gain Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic or by “Unhealthy” Lifestyle Choices |
| title_fullStr | Anti-Fat Attitudes Towards Weight Gain Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic or by “Unhealthy” Lifestyle Choices |
| title_full_unstemmed | Anti-Fat Attitudes Towards Weight Gain Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic or by “Unhealthy” Lifestyle Choices |
| title_short | Anti-Fat Attitudes Towards Weight Gain Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic or by “Unhealthy” Lifestyle Choices |
| title_sort | anti fat attitudes towards weight gain caused by the covid 19 pandemic or by unhealthy lifestyle choices |
| topic | anti-fat attitudes COVID-19 attributions fear of fat attractiveness body image |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4168/5/2/41 |
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