Cultural stereotypes and personal beliefs about thin people: A form of fat resistance

Abstract

Stereotypes about fatness and fat people are central to a large body of research examining how fatness operates in intergroup relations, and much is known about the content of these stereotypes about fat people. However, intergroup relations are necessarily bidirectional, and many fat people engage in resistance of the thin ideal, challenging the social power afforded to thinness. Building upon evidence that members of other marginalized groups engage in upward stereotyping – that is, hold stereotypes about members of relevant advantaged groups – we examined fat people’s knowledge and endorsement of stereotypes about thin people to gain insight into fat people’s resistance. In Study 1, we used a qualitative paradigm to elucidate fat people’s (N = 196) awareness of cultural stereotypes about thin people. In Study 2, we examined fat people’s (N = 139) personal endorsement of these stereotypes about thin people. Participants generally endorsed thin stereotypes at or above the scale mean, and endorsement of thin stereotyping was positively associated with fat people’s resistance to the notion that thin people are superior. Together, these studies highlight novel stereotype content about thin people and provide insight into fat people’s cognitive, affective, and attitudinal experiences within fat-thin intergroup relations.