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Applying the contact hypothesis to anti-fat attitudes: Contact with overweight people is related to how we interact with our bodies and those of others

Hayward, Lydia E.; Hornsey, Matthew J.; Alperin, Anandi; Diedrichs, Phillippa C; Barlow, Fiona Kate

Authors

Lydia E. Hayward

Matthew J. Hornsey

Anandi Alperin

Fiona Kate Barlow



Abstract

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. This paper is the first to apply the contact hypothesis, a social psychological theory of prejudice reduction, to the field of weight bias. It aims to investigate whether contact with overweight people is associated with the extent to which people report weight bias, as well as vigilance around their own bodies. In 2013 we recruited 1176 American participants to complete surveys regarding prejudice toward overweight people, as well as a suite of measures capturing people's relationships with their own weight (fat talk, drive for thinness, and body-checking behavior). Positive contact with overweight people predicted decreased prejudice, regardless of whether participants were overweight (p

Citation

Hayward, L. E., Hornsey, M. J., Alperin, A., Diedrichs, P. C., & Barlow, F. K. (2014). Applying the contact hypothesis to anti-fat attitudes: Contact with overweight people is related to how we interact with our bodies and those of others. Social Science and Medicine, 123, 37-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.051

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Dec 1, 2014
Journal Social Science and Medicine
Print ISSN 0277-9536
Electronic ISSN 1873-5347
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 123
Pages 37-44
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.051
Keywords United States, weight bias, anti-fat attitudes, obesity,
prejudice, stigma, discrimination, body image
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/806887
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.051
Related Public URLs http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614007047#