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- Title
The Relationship Between Body Mass Index, Implicit Weight Bias, and Social Anxiety in Undergraduate Women.
- Authors
Kaplan, Simona C.; Butler, Rachel M.; Heimberg, Richard G.
- Abstract
Background: Peer victimization is linked to social anxiety (SA), and rates of bullying are significantly higher for individuals at higher weights. However, research has yet to examine whether implicit weight bias exacerbates this link. Methods: This study examined the relationships between body mass index (BMI), SA, and implicit weight bias in undergraduate women (N = 186; 54.8% White; MBMI = 25.97). Participants completed questionnaires pertaining to SA, stigmatizing attitudes toward weight, and two implicit association tests (IATs) used to measure anti-fat attitudes. IATs required categorization of words into attribute category pairs good vs. bad and motivated vs. lazy. Results: BMI and SA were not significantly related. Implicit weight bias assessed by the good/bad IAT moderated the relationship between BMI and SA. Implicit weight bias assessed by the lazy/motivated IAT moderated the relationship between BMI and SA at the trend level (p =.06). Higher BMI was associated with higher SA in individuals with high, but not low, implicit weight bias. Implicit weight bias was associated with internalization of the thin ideal but not explicit weight bias. Conclusions: Therapeutic interventions for SA among individuals with high BMI should explore internalized weight stigma, which may take the form of implicit attitudes or beliefs.
- Subjects
DISCRIMINATION against overweight persons; SOCIAL anxiety; IMPLICIT attitudes; IMPLICIT bias; BODY mass index; APPEARANCE discrimination
- Publication
Cognitive Therapy & Research, 2023, Vol 47, Issue 5, p761
- ISSN
0147-5916
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10608-023-10404-6