Are Dietitians With Obesity Perceived as Competent and Warm? Applying the Stereotype Content Model to Weight Stigma in Brazil.

Giovana Santarosa Cassiano,Diogo Thimoteo Da Cunha,Nicola J Buckland,Mariana Dimitrov Ulian,Joana Pereira Carvalho-Ferreira

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.813344

Giovana Santarosa Cassiano, Diogo Thimoteo Da Cunha + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.813344

Copy DOI

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand how dietitians' body size influences perceived competence and warmth, based on the Stereotype Content Model (SCM). Online data were collected from 1,039 Brazilians, who were either laypeople, registered dietitians, or nutrition students. Participants rated the competence and warmth dimensions of three dietitians who differed in sex, body weight, and age. Participants also indicated how likelythey would consult or recommend each dietitian for nutritional advice, and indicated their attitudes toward people with obesity (PWO) [using The Antifat Attitudes Test (AFAT)]. Laypeople attributed less competence and warmth to all profiles compared to dietitians and students (p < 0.001). Three clusters occupied the SCM warmth-by-competence space. However, the clusters were different among groups (laypeople, dietitians, and students). For lay participants, the woman without overweight, the older woman, and the older man were located in the high competence/medium warmth cluster. Meanwhile, the woman with obesity was located in the medium competence/high warmth cluster. The dietitians and students map found the woman with obesity and the older woman in a high competence and warmth cluster. In general, the woman with obesity, the man without obesity, and the older man can be classified as ambivalent stereotypes, the woman being perceived as more warm than competent and the men more competent than warm. Participants with high AFAT scores were less likely to consult or recommend to a family member a dietitian with obesity. This study contributes to identifying ambivalent stereotypes for dietitians. Dietitians with obesity can be seen as warm but less competent. Also, although less intense than laypeople, dietitians, and students exhibited weight stigma. These findings can foster important discussions about weight stigma and emphasize the need to increase population awareness about the causes of obesity.

Highlights

Stereotypes are a set idea that people or groups share about what someone or something is like [1]
This study addressed the position of dietitians with different profiles on the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) map and their cluster membership according to particular groups
This study provides useful information about the perception of dietitians with obesity

Summary

Introduction

Stereotypes are a set idea that people or groups share about what someone or something is like [1]. According to the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) [2], stereotypes are not just negative; many societal stereotypes are ambivalent, combining a group’s positive and negative characteristics Based on this model, stereotypes array along two fundamental dimensions of social perception, namely, warmth (sociability, sincerity) and competence (capability, skill) [3]. The cluster analyses, conducted with various group selection methods, found evidence for the dimensional hypothesis that perceived competence and warmth differentiate out-group stereotypes. These studies supported the mixed stereotypes hypothesis that many outgroups are viewed as competent but not warm or viewed as not competent but warm. The authors addressed the emotional concomitants of different stereotype contents, showing that pity (low competence and high warmth), envy (high competence with low warmth), contempt (low competence and warmth), and admiration (with competence and warmth) differentiated the four combinations of perceived warmth and competence [2]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion