Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The present study examined whether the terms “obese people” vs “fat people” impact evaluations of a target group. METHOD: Participants answered a number of questions about obese people (N=300) or fat people (N=125), including how favorable their attitudes are toward the target group, how disgusted they are with the target group, and how similar they are to the target group. RESULTS: Compared to fat people, obese people were rated as less favorable and as more disgusting. In addition, participants saw themselves as being less similar to obese people than to fat people, and as less likely to become an obese person than a fat person. CONCLUSION: Overall, the term “obese people” evokes stronger negative evaluations than the term “fat people.” Researchers investigating weight bias should be aware that the specific terms used to refer to overweight and obese people can impact study outcomes and interpretations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Puhl RM, Heuer CA. The stigma of obesity: a review and update. Obesity 2009; 17: 941–64.
Cramer P, Steinwert T. Thin is good, fat is bad: how early does it begin? J Appl Dev Psychol 1998; 19: 429–51.
Schwartz MB, Chambliss HO, Brownell KD, et al. Weight bias among health professionals specializing in obesity. Obes Res 2003; 11: 1033–9.
Schwartz MB, Vartanian LR, Nosek BA, et al. The influence of one’s own body weight on implicit and explicit anti-fat bias. Obesity 2006; 14: 440–7.
Friedman KE, Reichmann SK, Constanzo PR, et al. Weight stigmatization and ideological beliefs: relation to psychological functioning in obese adults. Obes Res 2005; 13: 907–16.
Vartanian LR, Shaprow JG. Effects of weight stigma on exercise motivation and behavior: a preliminary investigation among college-age females. J Health Psychol 2008; 13: 131–8.
Penn DL, Nowlin-Drummond A. Politically correct labels and schizophrenia: a rose by any other name? Schizophr Bull 2001; 27: 197–203.
CBS News/New York Times Poll (2010, February 11). Gays in the military. Retrieved April 14, 2010, from http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/poll_021110_2pm.pdf.
Hilliar KF, Kemp RI. Barack Obama or Barry Dunham? the appearance of multiracial faces is affected by the names assigned to them. Perception 2008; 37: 1605–8.
Smith CA, Schmoll K, Konik J, et al. Carrying weight for the world: influence of weight descriptors on judgments of large-sized women. J Appl Soc Psychol 2007; 37: 989–1006.
Crandall CS. Prejudice against fat people: Ideology and self-interest. J Pers Soc Psychol 1994; 66: 882–94.
Allison DB, Basile VC, Yuker HE. The measurement of attitudes toward and beliefs about obese persons. Int J Eat Disord 1991; 10: 599–607.
Lin L, Reid K. The relationship between media exposure and antifat attitudes: the role of dysfunctional appearance beliefs. Body Image 2009; 6: 52–5.
Tiggemann M, Anesbury T. Negative stereotyping of obesity in children: the role of controllability beliefs. J Appl Soc Psychol 2000; 30: 1977–93.
Anesbury T, Tiggemann M. An attempt to reduce negative stereotyping of obesity in children by changing controllability beliefs. Health Educ Res 2000; 15: 145–52.
Teachman BA, Gapinski KD, Brownell KD, et al. Demonstrations of implicit anti-fat bias: the impact of providing causal information and evoking empathy. Health Psychol 2003; 22: 68–78.
Vartanian LR. Disgust and perceived control in attitudes toward obese people. Int J Obes (Lond) 2010; 34: 1302–7.
Krendl AC, Macrae NC, Kelley WM, et al. The good, the bad, and the ugly: an fMRI investigation of the functional anatomic correlates of stigma. Soc Neurosci 2006; 1: 5–15.
O’Brien KS, Hunter JA, Halberstadt J, Anderson J. Body image and explicit and implicit anti-fat attitudes: the mediating role of physical appearance comparisons. Body Image 2007; 4: 249–56.
Wadden TA, Didie E. What’s in a name? patients’ preferred terms for describing obesity. Obes Res 2003; 11: 1140–6.
Thomas SL, Hyde J, Karunaratne A, et al. Being “fat” in today’s world: a qualitative study of the lived experiences of people with obesity in Australia. Health Expect 2008; 11: 321–30.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vartanian, L.R. “Obese people” vs “Fat people”: Impact of group label on weight bias. Eat Weight Disord 15, e195–e198 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03325299
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03325299