Abstract:
Obese individuals experience pervasive stigmatization. Interventions attempting to reduce obesity stigma by targeting its origins have yielded mixed results. This randomized, controlled study examined the effectiveness of two interventions to reduce obesity stigma: cognitive dissonance and social consensus. Participants were college undergraduate students (N = 64, 78% women, mean age = 21.2 years, mean BMI = 23.1 kg/m2) of diverse ethnicities. Obesity stigma (assessed with the Antifat Attitudes Test (AFAT)) was assessed at baseline (Visit 1) and 1 week later, immediately following the intervention (Visit 2). Participants were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups where they received standardized written feedback on their obesity stigma levels. Cognitive dissonance participants (N = 21) were told that their AFAT scores were discrepant from their values (high core values of kindness and equality and high stigma), social consensus participants (N = 22) were told their scores were discrepant from their peers\' scores (stigma much higher than their peers), and control participants (N = 21) were told their scores were consistent with both their peers\' scores and their own values. Following the intervention, omnibus analyses revealed significant group differences on the AFAT Physical/Romantic Unattractiveness subscale (PRU; F (2, 59) = 4.43, P < 0.05). Planned contrasts revealed that cognitive dissonance group means were significantly lower than control means for AFAT total, AFAT PRU subscale, and AFAT social/character disparagement subscale (all P < 0.05). No significant differences were found between social consensus and controls. Results from this study suggest that cognitive dissonance interventions may be a successful way to reduce obesity stigma, particularly by changing attitudes about the appearance and attractiveness of obese individuals.
摘要:
肥胖个体经历普遍的污名化。试图通过针对肥胖的起源来减少肥胖污名的干预措施产生了不同的结果。这个随机的,对照研究检查了两种干预措施减少肥胖污名的有效性:认知失调和社会共识.参与者是大学本科学生(N=64,78%是女性,平均年龄=21.2岁,不同种族的平均BMI=23.1kg/m2)。在基线(访视1)和1周后评估肥胖污名(使用Antifat态度测试(AFAT)评估),干预后立即进行(访视2)。参与者被随机分配到三个干预组之一,在那里他们收到了关于他们肥胖耻辱水平的标准化书面反馈。认知失调参与者(N=21)被告知他们的AFAT分数与他们的价值观(善良和平等的高核心价值观和高污名)不一致,社会共识参与者(N=22)被告知他们的分数与同龄人的分数不一致(污名远高于同龄人),和对照参与者(N=21)被告知他们的分数与他们的同龄人的分数和他们自己的值一致。干预之后,综合分析显示,AFAT身体/浪漫不吸引力子量表(PRU;F(2,59)=4.43,P<0.05)存在显着组间差异。计划对比显示,认知失调组均值显着低于AFAT总数的对照均值,AFATPRU分量表,AFAT社会/性格贬低子量表(均P<0.05)。在社会共识和对照之间没有发现显着差异。这项研究的结果表明,认知失调干预可能是减少肥胖污名的成功方法。特别是通过改变对肥胖个体的外表和吸引力的态度。