From U New South Wales: Disgust, contempt, and anger and the stereotypes of obese people

Eat Weight Disord. 2013 Dec;18(4):377-82. doi: 10.1007/s40519-013-0067-2. Epub 2013 Sep 25.

Disgust, contempt, and anger and the stereotypes of obese people.

Vartanian LR, Thomas MA, Vanman EJ.

Author information

• School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia, lvartanian@psy.unsw.edu.au.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

Emotions form an important part of stereotyping and prejudice, but little is known about how intergroup emotions are associated with anti-fat prejudice. This study examined the relation between negative intergroup emotions (disgust, contempt, and anger) and the stereotypes of obese people.

METHOD:

A community sample (n = 380) and an undergraduate sample (n = 96) rated obese people on common obesity stereotypes (e.g., lazy, sloppy), and also indicated the extent to which they felt disgust, contempt, and anger toward obese people.

RESULTS:

In both samples, participants reported feeling more disgust and contempt than anger toward obese people. Furthermore, regression analyses indicated that disgust was a significant positive predictor of obesity stereotypes, but contempt and anger were not.

CONCLUSION:

Overall, these findings provide further evidence that disgust plays an important role in prejudice toward obese people.