Unexpected Gains: Being Overweight Buffers Asian Americans From Prejudice Against Foreigners

Abstract

Can being overweight, a factor that commonly leads to stigmatization, ironically buffer some people from race-based assumptions about who is American? In 10 studies, participants were shown portraits that were edited to make the photographed person appear either overweight (body mass index, or BMI > 25) or normal weight (BMI < 25). A meta-analysis of these studies revealed that overweight Asian individuals were perceived as significantly more American than normal-weight versions of the same people, whereas this was not true for White, Black, or Latino individuals. A second meta-analysis showed that overweight Asian men were perceived as less likely to be in the United States without documentation than their normal-weight counterparts. A final study demonstrated that weight stereotypes about presumed countries of origin shape who is considered American. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that perceptions of nationality are malleable and that perceived race and body shape interact to inform these judgments.

Overweight and Obesity Differences Across Ethnically Diverse Subgroups of Asian American Men

“…The authors’ finding that overweight prevalence is higher among many of the Asian American subgroups compared to non-Hispanic Whites also has social and psychological implications for health given a recent study by Handron et al (2017) indicating that being overweight protects Asian Americans from prejudice against foreigners. Handron’s study further determined that Asian American men who were overweight were perceived as less likely to be undocumented than those who were of normal weight.…”

“…This has contributed to limited research being conducted on overweight and obesity in Asian Americans as compared to groups with higher obesity prevalence, such as Hispanics and non-Hispanic Blacks. Beyond the health risks associated with obesity, being overweight has been linked to race-based perception of American identity, with overweight Asian Americans being perceived as more “American” than their normal weight Asian American peers ( Fiske & Neuberg, 1990 ; Handron, Kirby, Wang, Matskewich, & Cheryan, 2017 ). Notably, this observation was limited only to Asian Americans, and was not observed among non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Blacks ( Handron et al, 2017 ).…”

Forever Foreign? Asian Australians Assimilating to Australian Culture Are Still Perceived as Less Australian Than White Australians

“…Four items adapted from Handron, Kirby, Wang, Matskewich, and Cheryan (2017) were used to measure the extent to which participants perceived the target to be Australian (i.e., “How Australian do you think this person is?” “How likely is this person to have been born outside of Australia”? [r] “How fluently do you think this person speaks English?” “How likely do you think it is that this person has a foreign accent?” [r]); (1 = not at all , 7 = extremely ).…”

“…One additional item (i.e., “How foreign do you think this person is?” [r]) was added to the 3 remaining items used in Study 1 to measure the extent to which participants perceived the target to be Australian (Handron et al, 2017). 5 Responses were averaged such that higher scores indicated greater perceived Australian identity, α = .82.…”

“…Potent stereotypes, however, can circumvent such stereotype-disconfirming evidence and continue to affect person perception (Nelson, Acker, & Mains, 1996). In the domain of the foreignness stereotypes, recent research demonstrates that perceptions of Asian people’s American identity can be bolstered if they are depicted as overweight (Handron, Kirby, Wang, Matskewich, & Cheryan, 2017) or gay (Semrow, Zou, Liu, & Cheryan, 2019), although not to the extent that they are considered equivalently American as White people.…”