ABSTRACT

The present study examined how weight status would affect lay perceptions of a White female student presenting signs of eating disorder-related distress. We recruited a mixed-gender, weight-diverse U.S. community sample through Mechanical Turk (N = 130; 49.2% female) to complete an online survey. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions in which they read a personal statement section of a college application revealing eating disorder-related distress from a student who was either ‘overweight’ or ‘underweight.’ Participants evaluated the student on need for support, behavioural prescriptions for eating and exercise, and personal qualities. Although participants recognized a serious mental health concern in both conditions, they were more likely to prescribe eating disorder behaviors to the higher weight student. Findings suggest that weight stigma may bias lay perceptions of and even reinforce an eating disorder when exhibited by higher weight individuals.

摘要

本研究检查了体重状况如何影响对出现饮食失调相关困扰迹象的白人女学生的外行看法。我们通过 Mechanical Turk ( N= 130; 49.2% 的女性）完成在线调查。参与者被随机分配到两个条件之一，在这些条件下，他们阅读大学申请的个人陈述部分，该部分揭示了来自“超重”或“体重不足”的学生与饮食失调相关的痛苦。参与者评估学生对支持的需求、饮食和锻炼的行为处方以及个人素质。尽管参与者认识到这两种情况都存在严重的心理健康问题，但他们更有可能对体重较重的学生提出饮食失调行为。研究结果表明，当体重较重的人表现出体重耻辱时，体重耻辱可能会偏见甚至强化饮食失调。