Fat Talk Is Perceived As More Detrimental To Romantic Relationships Than Other Forms Of Self-Berating Dialog

This study examined men’s perceptions of a woman’s interpersonal qualities, and her male romantic partner’s relationship and sexual satisfaction, when she engaged in three types of dialog -- Fat Talk (FT; the verbal expression of body dissatisfaction; Nichter & Vuckovic, 1994), Dumb Talk (DT; an author-developed term for verbally degrading one’s own intelligence), or Neutral Talk. Participants watched one of three versions of a video interview with a fictional couple, Michael and Jessica, across which Jessica’s dialog varied. In one version, Jessica berates her body and weight (FT); in one version she berates her intelligence (DT); and in one version she does not self-criticize (Neutral). Participants completed self-report measures following the video viewing, which assessed relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and Jessica’s interpersonal qualities, as if they were Michael. Results showed that FT yielded the poorest interpersonal quality evaluations of the female partner, while DT yielded the highest sexual satisfaction ratings for the male partner.