Department of Psychology, Dickinson College, United States.
Department of Psychology, Dickinson College, United States.
Body Image. 2021 Dec;39:248-258. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.09.005. Epub 2021 Oct 13.
Although weight stigma and discrimination are associated with increased body dissatisfaction and eating disorder risk, reduced opportunities, and poorer well-being, there are few legal protections for such discrimination in the U.S. We addressed one barrier to enacting protective legislation - public attitudes toward anti-weight discrimination laws - by assessing the impact of media representations of fatness and information about peer attitudes. Using a 2 × 2 experimental design, participants (N = 525) completed baseline assessments of political conservatism and weight bias and were randomly assigned to view fat-negative or fat-positive media content that was ostensibly supported or not supported by their peers, followed by questionnaires assessing fat phobia and legislative attitudes. Two-way ANCOVAs controlling for baseline weight bias and political conservatism indicated a significant effect for media framing, with greater fat phobia and less support for anti-discrimination laws and policies among those who viewed the fat-negative frame; however, effects for ostensible peer support and interaction effects were not significant. These preliminary findings suggest that efforts to shift media rhetoric may enhance support for anti-weight discrimination laws. Future research should investigate other barriers to anti-discrimination legislation and estimate their impact on body dissatisfaction, eating disorder risk, and other indicators of population health.
虽然体重歧视与不满和饮食失调风险增加、机会减少以及幸福感降低有关，但在美国，针对这种歧视的法律保护措施很少。我们通过评估媒体对肥胖的描述和同伴态度信息，解决了制定保护立法的一个障碍——公众对反体重歧视法的态度。使用 2×2 实验设计，参与者（N=525）完成了政治保守主义和体重偏见的基线评估，并被随机分配观看表面上得到同伴支持或不支持的负面或正面的肥胖媒体内容，然后填写评估肥胖恐惧症和立法态度的问卷。控制基线体重偏见和政治保守主义的双向协方差分析表明，媒体框架有显著影响，观看负面肥胖框架的人肥胖恐惧症更严重，对反歧视法律和政策的支持度更低；然而，同伴支持的表面效果和交互作用效果并不显著。这些初步结果表明，努力改变媒体言论可能会增强对反体重歧视法的支持。未来的研究应该调查反歧视立法的其他障碍，并估计它们对身体不满、饮食失调风险和其他人口健康指标的影响。
