Blatant Dehumanization of People with Obesity

Kersbergen, Inge; Robinson, Eric

doi:10.1002/oby.22460

Cited by 47 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Moreover, physical appearance has been linked to dehumanization through facial width ( Deska et al. , 2018 ), obesity ( Kersbergen and Robinson, 2019 ) and even use of cosmetics ( Bernard et al. , 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognizing humanity: dehumanization predicts neural mirroring and empathic accuracy in face-to-face interactions

Simon

Gutsell

2021

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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Dehumanization is the failure to recognize the cognitive and emotional complexities of the people around us. While its presence has been well documented in horrific acts of violence, it is also theorized to play a role in everyday life. We measured its presence and effects in face-to-face dyadic interactions between strangers and found that not only was there variance in the extent to which they perceived one another as human, but this variance predicted neural processing and behavior. Specifically, participants showed stronger neural mirroring, indexed by EEG mu-suppression, in response to partners they evaluated as more human, suggesting their brains neurally simulated those targets’ actions more. Participants were also marginally more empathically accurate about the emotions of partners deemed more human and performed better with them on a cooperative task. These results suggest that there are indeed differences in our recognition of the humanity of people we meet—demonstrated for the first time in a real, face-to-face interaction—and that this mundane variation affects our ability to neurally simulate, cooperate, and empathize.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognizing humanity: dehumanization predicts neural mirroring and empathic accuracy in face-to-face interactions

Simon

Gutsell

2021

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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“…29 The extent to which obesity is stigmatized is highlighted by recent evidence that indicates that people living with obesity are rated as less human and evolved because of their heavier body weight. 30 A consequence of the widespread stigmatization of adiposity is that being overweight or obese is highly undesirable. For example, in one study, 30% of participants reported that they would rather be divorced than have obesity, and 25%…”

Section: The Stigma Of Heavier Body Weightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self‐perception of overweight and obesity: A review of mental and physical health outcomes

Robinson

Haynes

Sutin

et al. 2020

Obesity Science & Practice

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The obesity crisis is one of the largest public health challenges of the 21st century. Population-level adiposity has increased dramatically in recent times, and people not recognizing that they have overweight or obesity is now common. It has been widely assumed that not recognizing oneself as having overweight is detrimental to weight management and long-term health. Here, diverse research is reviewed that converges on the counterintuitive conclusion that not recognizing oneself as having overweight is actually associated with more favourable physical and mental health outcomes than recognizing oneself as having overweight. Drawing on existing models in social psychology and weight stigma research, an explanatory model of the health effects of self-perception of overweight is outlined. This model proposes that self-perception of overweight triggers social rejection concerns and the internalization of weight stigma, which in turn induce psychological distress and negatively impact health-promoting lifestyle behaviours. How self-perception of overweight may in part explain progression from overweight to obesity, and the public health implications of self-perception of overweight and obesity are also discussed.

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“…In medical contexts, the pathologization of fatness overrides the usual cognitive processes of clinical decision-making, leading doctors to interpret all other health issues as actually weight issues, and, as a result, provide fat people with worse care (Phelan et al, 2015). 3 Existing weight stigma research suggests that fat people are likely dehumanized in a variety of ways (Bernard et al, 2014;Kersbergen & Robinson, 2019); we posit that the pathologization of fatness contributes to this dehumanization.…”

Section: Pathologization and Weight Stigmamentioning

confidence: 89%

Working toward eradicating weight stigma by combating pathologization: A qualitative pilot study using direct contact and narrative medicine

Fox

Park

Hildebrand-Chupp

et al. 2021

J Applied Social Pyschol

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Despite an extensive body of research showing the negative consequences of weight stigma, healthcare providers (HCPs) continue to marginalize fat 1 patients through negative attitudes, stereotypical beliefs, and discriminatory actions (Daníelsdóttir et al., 2010;Phelan et al., 2015). Weight stigma is present through all stages of medical training, where derogatory comments about fat patients abound (see Flint, 2015). It is therefore imperative to combat weight stigma early in medical education. Reviews of weight stigma reduction research have shown that existing interventions are ineffective, or, at best, only minimally effective (Alberga et al., 2016;Lee et al., 2014).There is a clear need for new approaches in this field. Fat studies is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that may offer new insights for intervening in weight stigma, guided by three tenets: first, the oppression of fat people exists on a structural level; second, fat bodies are part of the natural diversity of body sizes; and third, any knowledge produced about fat people should include fat people

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Blatant Dehumanization of People with Obesity

Cited by 47 publications

References 35 publications

Recognizing humanity: dehumanization predicts neural mirroring and empathic accuracy in face-to-face interactions

Recognizing humanity: dehumanization predicts neural mirroring and empathic accuracy in face-to-face interactions

Self‐perception of overweight and obesity: A review of mental and physical health outcomes

Working toward eradicating weight stigma by combating pathologization: A qualitative pilot study using direct contact and narrative medicine

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