Abstract
Antifat attitudes refer to the prejudicial assumption of personality characteristics based on a visual assessment of a person with obesity. Allophilia may be defined as the positive attitudes toward different out-groups, including people with obesity. In this study, conducted with 448 participants, it is analyzed whether allophilia, germ aversion, physical disgust, social dominance orientation, perceived controllability of weight, and fear of gaining weight play a central role in explaining the individual differences that exist in social distance toward individuals with obesity. Results showed a negative correlation between the different subscales of allophilia (affection, comfort, kinship, engagement, and enthusiasm) and social distance. Furthermore, a positive relationship between social distance and germ aversion, social dominance orientation, perceived controllability of weight, and fear of gaining weight was found. Moreover, the regression analyses conducted showed that comfort was the best negative predictor of social distance toward individuals with obesity. Finally, the results are discussed in the frame of antifat attitudes literature, suggesting new ways to reduce this pervasive stigma.
Highlights
An increasing number of people are facing the burden of obesity, which is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of ≥ 30 kg/m2 (Haslam & James, 2005)
A negative correlation was found between the different subscales of allophilia and social distance
Disgust was positively related to germ aversion
Summary
An increasing number of people are facing the burden of obesity, which is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of ≥ 30 kg/m2 (Haslam & James, 2005). Obesity may be considered a social stigma (Puhl, Heuer, & Brownell, 2010). Individuals with obesity have to face discrimination in many social areas, such as in employment, health care settings, educational contexts, and at everyday activities (see for a review, Puhl & Heuer, 2009). It has been found that individuals with prejudicial antifat attitudes express a greater desire for social distance toward people with obesity (Sikorski et al, 2015). Efforts to explain these negative attitudes toward individuals with obesity have centered on different variables (see for example, Latner, O’Brien, Luedicke, & Danielsdottir, 2015), such as germ aversion, physical disgust, social dominance orientation, perceived
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