Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Target Weight And Gender On Perceptions Of Likeability, Personality Attributes, And Functional Impairment, Dara Musher-Eizenman, Robert Albert Carels

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Bias against individuals who are overweight is well documented. However, little is known about biased perceptions of men and women at varying specified degrees of overweight. Methods: Men and women (N = 308) rated male and female figures (low normal weight, overweight, obese, extremely obese) on measures of dislike, personality characteristics, and functional limitations. Results: Little or no bias was observed against overweight figures (BMI approximately 25 kg/m 2); however, strong bias was observed against obese and extremely obese figures. Men's ratings of extremely obese females were more negative than those of comparable males. However, for other weight categories, …