The authors theorized that overweight individuals experience social identity threat in situations that activate concerns about weight stigma, causing them to experience increased stress and reduced self-control. To test these predictions, women who varied in body mass index (BMI) gave a speech on why they would make a good dating partner. Half thought they were videotaped (weight visible); the remainder thought they were audiotaped (weight not visible). As predicted, higher BMI was associated with increased blood pressure and poorer performance on a measure of executive control when weight was visible and concerns about stigma were activated but not when weight was not visible. Compared to average weight women, overweight women also reported more stress-related emotions when videotaped versus audiotaped. Findings suggest that weight stigma can be detrimental to mental and physical health and deplete self-regulatory resources necessary for weight control.

Two experiments examined responses to bystanders who claimed that another person experienced discrimination. Participants read about a woman or man who experienced sexism and whose co-worker (male or female) either expressed sympathy or claimed that the target experienced sexism. Participants then evaluated the co-worker (bystander). Overall, participants evaluated bystanders who claimed that someone else experienced discrimination more negatively than they evaluated bystanders who did not claim discrimination. Furthermore, female bystanders who claimed discrimination on behalf of someone else were derogated more than male bystanders who did the same. Additional analyses indicated that female bystanders who claimed that another person experienced discrimination were derogated more than male bystanders who did so because the former threatened participants’ beliefs about the fairness of status differences to a greater extent than the later.

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Objective Genetic testing for hereditary cancer susceptibility syndromes is a family centered process. Nonetheless, little research has explored how the family context affects psychological responses to genetic testing. We examine how personal test results and the test results of immediate and extended family members shape responses to genetic testing. Methods Individuals at risk of carrying a mutation associated with an inherited cancer susceptibility syndrome (Lynch syndrome) received genetic testing. Six months after receiving their results, participants reported on cancer distress, cancer worry and depressive symptoms. Results Among mutation carriers for Lynch syndrome, the higher the proportion of carriers in their immediate family, the less cancer worry and distress they reported. In contrast, mutation carriers and non-carriers with a high proportion of carriers in their immediate family and mutation carriers with a high proportion of carriers in their extended family were at elevated risk for clinically significant levels of depressive symptoms. Conclusion Personal test results alone are not highly predictive of psychological outcomes. Instead, the interaction between personal and family test results, or in some cases, family test results alone, predict key psychological outcomes. The current research has important implications for genetic counseling and intervention efforts.