An Examination of the Mere Proximity Effect of Obesity Discrimination in Children in Chinese Culture

Abstract

This study investigated the mere proximity effect of obesity discrimination in children in Chinese culture. One hundred and thirty children between 9 and 14 years old were asked to indicate how much they would like or to be friends with a target character, who was either male or female and average-weight or overweight. The target character was presented with four other background characters of the same gender, whom were either average-weight or overweight. The findings demonstrated that female targets were preferred less when presented with overweight background characters than when presented with average-weight background characters. However, male targets were preferred more when presented with overweight background characters than when presented with average-weight background characters. The findings indicated an anti-fat mere proximity effect in female children but a contrary effect in male children in Chinese culture. These findings may have implications for a better understanding of weight bias from a cultural perspective.Keywords: obesity discrimination, mere proximity effect, children, Chinese culture Introduction  Social stigma towards obese youths is pervasive and can have serious consequences for both emotional and physical health of these obese children and adolescents (e.g., Puhl & Latner, 2007). Some research has shown that the stigmatization of obesity would generalize to those who have, or not have, a relationship with a stigmatized individual (Hebl & Mannix, 2003;Neuberg, Smith, Hoffman, & Russell, 1994;Penny & Haddock, 2007a, 2007b). An interesting study by Hebl and Mannix (2003) revealed that an average-weight male job applicant was assessed negatively when he was perceived as sitting next to an overweight female stranger, as much as he was perceived as sitting next to his overweight girlfriend. The phenomenon that obesity stigma would generalize to average-weight individuals who was proximity to the obese individual was termed the mere proximity effect (Hebl & Mannix, 2003).Given that close proximity is very important in children socialization and forming friends, Penny and Haddock (2007a) examined whether the mere proximity effect of obesity would occur in children. In their study, a target character who was either male or female and either average-weight or overweight with four other background characters of the same gender, all of whom were either average-weight or overweight, was presented to 5-10 years old children. The participants were asked to indicate whether they would like to be friends with a target character. The results showed that overall, overweight targets were liked significantly less than average-weight targets, and in line with the mere proximity effect that average-weight female targets were liked significantly less when they were presented with overweight background characters. Hence, mere proximity effect was obtained among 5-10 years old children. Culture is known to be an interesting and important factor that may impact obesity stigma. Latner, Stunkard, and Wilson (20...

“No fat friend of mine”: Young children's responses to overweight and disability

“…Social context was important in that healthy weight characters were liked less if the background characters were overweight, and overweight main characters liked less if all the background ones were healthy weight. Interestingly, this applied only to female characters, a sex-specific finding also observed in older Chinese children (Chen, Yin, Tang, & Wang, 2014). Our second study therefore included two further versions of the storybooks in which all of the central character 'Alfina's' peers were fat.…”

Akademická úspěšnost u dětí a dospívajících s nadváhou a obezitou

“…Děti s obezitou měly obecně nižší školní výsledky i výsledky psychologického testu, ale nejednalo se o významné rozdíly. Odlišné psychosociální aspekty nadváhy a obezity ukazuje také výzkum 130 čínských dětí ve věku 9-14 let (Chen et al, 2014). Na základě předkládaných štíhlých nebo zavalitých siluet se děti vyjadřovaly k tomu, zda a do jaké míry by se chtěly stát kamarády dětí s takovou postavou.…”

“…Z hlediska vztahu k akademické úspěšnosti se v některých případech ukázala jako více znevýhodňující příslušnost k ženskému pohlaví než tělesná hmotnost. Je to vysvětlováno místními, silně diskriminujícími postoji vůči dívkám a ženám (Chen et al, 2012;Chen et al, 2014;Mosuwan et al, 1999). V reprezentativních studiích severských zemí byly u adolescentních dívek i chlapců zjištěny inverzní asociace mezi obezitou, dobrým prospěchem a dobrou ekonomickou situací rodiny, pouze u dívek (v některých výzkumech) také s úrovní vzdělání rodičů a s podáváním večeří v domácím prostředí (Kristsjánson et al, 2008;Mikkilä et al, 2003).…”

Do physical education teachers and general teachers differ in their implicit anti-fat bias?

“…Clearly, cultural aspects of obesity and overweight that may differentially affect the implicit biases of teachers in Hong Kong compared to Western societies, where implicit weight biases against overweight and obese individuals have been studied extensively (Katzmarzyk et al, 2013;Peña, Dixon & Taveras, 2012). For example, traditional Chinese culture has been quite obesity-friendly, adults considered plump, children desirable and attractive just decades ago (Chen, Yin, Tang, H& Wang, 2014). Might this traditional cultural view affect the implicit bias among teachers of fat Chinese children?…”