Factors Predicting Implicit Attitudes Toward Obesity: Evidence from Project Implicit (2017-2021)

Abstract

This article explored the effects of gender, BMI, age, education level, and year on peoples implicit attitudes toward obesity between 2017 and 2021. We used data from the Project Implicit demonstration website, which consists of the implicit association test and demographic information. The results of the study indicated that people held implicitly negative attitudes toward obesity. A regression model found that the above five factors significantly predicted peoples negative implicit attitudes toward obesity, and their contributions were ranked from highest to lowest: BMI, age, gender, education level, and year of completing the implicit association test. Among them, the lower the BMI, the older the age, and the lower the education level, the stronger the implicit negative attitudes toward obesity. In addition, women displayed stronger negative attitudes toward obesity than men. Peoples implicitly negative attitudes toward obesity gradually decreased as the years passed. This study informs us of the factors that influence socially implicit attitudes, contributes to the development of the dual process theory, and can make recommendations to guide society in reducing negative attitudes toward obesity, with both theoretical and practical implications.