Abstract

Research has established an association between disgust propensity and stigmatizing reactions against obese individuals. We conducted two online experiments (n = 544) with the moral machine paradigm to investigate a disgust-related bias against obese humans and animals (cats, dogs). We focused on three different facets of trait disgust: pathogen/core disgust, moral disgust, and self-disgust. Participants were presented with dilemmas consisting of two persons or animals (one non-obese, one obese) crossing a street. The participants had to decide which person (animal) had to be sacrificed by an unavoidable car accident. We calculated logistic regression analyses to estimate the relationship between the three domains of trait disgust, sex, and body mass index (BMI) of the participants and the tendency to sacrifice more obese than non-obese humans/ animals. Participants showed a pronounced obesity bias against humans, which was negatively associated with their BMI and positively with their self-disgust (disgust directed toward physical aspects of the self). The obesity bias against animals was less pronounced and could not be predicted based on disgust variables. This study identified self-disgust as the strongest predictor of negative reactions against obese persons. This finding points to the association between internalized and externalized negative body attitudes.

摘要

研究已经建立了厌恶倾向和对肥胖个体的污名化反应之间的关联。我们使用道德机器范式进行了两个在线实验 (n = 544)，以调查对肥胖人类和动物（猫、狗）的厌恶相关偏见。我们专注于特征厌恶的三个不同方面：病原体/核心厌恶、道德厌恶和自我厌恶。参与者面临由两个人或动物（一个非肥胖，一个肥胖）穿过街道组成的困境。参与者必须决定在不可避免的车祸中必须牺牲哪个人（动物）。我们计算了逻辑回归分析来估计特征厌恶、性别、和参与者的体重指数（BMI）以及牺牲比非肥胖人类/动物更多肥胖的倾向。参与者对人类表现出明显的肥胖偏见，这与他们的 BMI 呈负相关，与他们的自我厌恶（对自我身体方面的厌恶）呈正相关。对动物的肥胖偏见不太明显，无法根据厌恶变量进行预测。这项研究确定自我厌恶是对肥胖者产生负面反应的最强预测因素。这一发现指出了内化和外化的消极身体态度之间的关联。对动物的肥胖偏见不太明显，无法根据厌恶变量进行预测。这项研究确定自我厌恶是对肥胖者产生负面反应的最强预测因素。这一发现指出了内化和外化的消极身体态度之间的关联。对动物的肥胖偏见不太明显，无法根据厌恶变量进行预测。这项研究确定自我厌恶是对肥胖者产生负面反应的最强预测因素。这一发现指出了内化和外化的消极身体态度之间的关联。