Three studies investigated implicit biases, and their modifiability, against overweight persons. In Study 1 (N = 144), the authors demonstrated strong implicit anti-fat attitudes and stereotypes using the Implicit Association Test, despite no explicit anti-fat bias. When participants were informed that obesity is caused predominantly by overeating and lack of exercise, higher implicit bias relative to controls was produced; informing participants that obesity is mainly due to genetic factors did not result in lower bias. In Studies 2A (N = 90) and 2B (N = 63), participants read stories of discrimination against obese persons to evoke empathy. This did not lead to lower bias compared with controls but did produce diminished implicit bias among overweight participants, suggesting an in-group bias.

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This work investigated negative attitudes toward overweight people and whether anti-fat attitudes and behavior could be reduced by media-based empathy and classical conditioning interventions. Participants were first primed by an empathy-evoking video of obese persons or a non-weight-related control video. Next, they viewed either a video portraying obese persons positively (e.g., as competent) or negatively (e.g.. as clumsy). Participants completed outcome measures of implicit and explicit weight-related attitudes and participated in a covert behavioral task (competence ratings of thin and overweight job applicants). Results confirm strong implicit and explicit anti-fat bias across conditions, yet participants rated overweight job applicants more highly in most domains while disfavoring overweight candidates on a personal level. Overall, bias persisted despite video interventions, although surprisingly the negative (stereotypic) video was associated with somewhat reduced bias. Relationships among implicit bias, explicit bias, individualdifference variables, and awareness of obesity as a social problem are explored and discussed.

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The present article examines the existing literature on the role of imagery in the symptoms and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Intrusive thoughts and images are conceptualized as falling somewhere along a continuum of normality to pathology. The development of OCD is discussed as resulting from anxious emotional states and dysfunctional cognitive appraisals that occur in response to intrusive cognitions. Four types of imagery evidenced by OCD sufferers are reviewed from de Silva's paper: the obsessional image, the compulsive image, the disaster image, and the disruptive image [1]. The logic and efficacy of an imagery component in the treatment of OCD is discussed, particularly as it pertains to the implementation of imaginal exposure within the framework of the empirically validated cognitive-behavioral treatment of exposure and responsive prevention.