Weighed Down by Stigma: How Weight-Based Social Identity Threat Contributes to Weight Gain and Poor Health

被引:231
作者
Hunger, Jeffrey M. [1 ]
Major, Brenda [2 ]
Blodorn, Alison [3 ]
Miller, Carol T. [4 ]
机构
[1] Univ Calif Santa Barbara, Social Psychol, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA
[2] Univ Calif Santa Barbara, Dept Psychol & Brain Sci, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA
[3] Univ Calif Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA
[4] Univ Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405 USA
来源
SOCIAL AND PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY COMPASS | 2015年 / 9卷 / 06期
关键词
D O I
10.1111/spc3.12172
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
Weight stigma is pervasive, and a number of scholars argue that this profound stigma contributes to the negative effects of weight on psychological and physical health. Some lay individuals and health professionals assume that stigmatizing weight can actually motivate healthier behaviors and promote weight loss. However, as we review, weight stigma is consistently associated with poorer mental and physical health outcomes. In this article, we propose a social identity threat model elucidating how weight stigma contributes to weight gain and poorer mental and physical health among overweight individuals. We propose that weightbased social identity threat increases physiological stress, undermines self-regulation, compromises psychological health, and increases the motivation to avoid stigmatizing domains (e.g., the gym) and escape the stigma by engaging in unhealthy weight loss behaviors. Given the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the US, weight stigma thus has the potential to undermine the health and wellbeing of millions of Americans.
引用
收藏
页码:255 / 268
页数:14
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