Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Sep;19(9):1768-74. doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.106. Epub 2011 May 5.
Obese individuals experience pervasive stigmatization. Interventions attempting to reduce obesity stigma by targeting its origins have yielded mixed results. This randomized, controlled study examined the effectiveness of two interventions to reduce obesity stigma: cognitive dissonance and social consensus. Participants were college undergraduate students (N = 64, 78% women, mean age = 21.2 years, mean BMI = 23.1 kg/m2) of diverse ethnicities. Obesity stigma (assessed with the Antifat Attitudes Test (AFAT)) was assessed at baseline (Visit 1) and 1 week later, immediately following the intervention (Visit 2). Participants were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups where they received standardized written feedback on their obesity stigma levels. Cognitive dissonance participants (N = 21) were told that their AFAT scores were discrepant from their values (high core values of kindness and equality and high stigma), social consensus participants (N = 22) were told their scores were discrepant from their peers' scores (stigma much higher than their peers), and control participants (N = 21) were told their scores were consistent with both their peers' scores and their own values. Following the intervention, omnibus analyses revealed significant group differences on the AFAT Physical/Romantic Unattractiveness subscale (PRU; F (2, 59) = 4.43, P < 0.05). Planned contrasts revealed that cognitive dissonance group means were significantly lower than control means for AFAT total, AFAT PRU subscale, and AFAT social/character disparagement subscale (all P < 0.05). No significant differences were found between social consensus and controls. Results from this study suggest that cognitive dissonance interventions may be a successful way to reduce obesity stigma, particularly by changing attitudes about the appearance and attractiveness of obese individuals.
肥胖个体经历普遍的污名化。尝试通过针对肥胖歧视起源来减少其的干预措施收效不一。本随机对照研究检验了两种减少肥胖歧视的干预措施的有效性：认知失调和社会共识。参与者为不同种族的大学生本科学生（N=64，78%为女性，平均年龄为 21.2 岁，平均 BMI 为 23.1kg/m2）。肥胖歧视（使用反肥胖态度测试（AFAT）评估）在基线（第 1 次就诊）和干预后 1 周（第 2 次就诊）进行评估。参与者被随机分配到三个干预组之一，在那里他们收到关于其肥胖歧视水平的标准化书面反馈。认知失调组（N=21）被告知他们的 AFAT 分数与其价值观不一致（高度核心价值观为善良和平等，高度歧视），社会共识组（N=22）被告知他们的分数与其同龄人分数不一致（比同龄人高得多的歧视），对照组（N=21）被告知他们的分数与同龄人分数和自己的价值观一致。干预后，整体分析显示 AFAT 身体/浪漫吸引力子量表（PRU；F(2,59)=4.43，P<0.05）上存在显著的组间差异。计划对比显示，认知失调组的 AFAT 总分、AFAT PRU 子量表和 AFAT 社会/性格诋毁子量表的平均值均显著低于对照组（均 P<0.05）。社会共识组与对照组之间没有发现显著差异。本研究结果表明，认知失调干预可能是减少肥胖歧视的有效方法，特别是通过改变对肥胖个体外貌和吸引力的态度。
