WEIGHT STIGMA AND PERCEPTIONS OF FITNESS INFLUENCERS

Abstract: Previous research suggests that people in larger bodies are stigmatized in many domains and that negative treatment may be the result of a combination of stereotypes of high warmth and low competence (Fiske & Neuberg, 1990; Fiske et al., 2002). This may explain why larger-bodied fitness influencers have more negative engagement than thinner fitness influencers. The current study aimed to extend our understanding of weight stigma to the context of social media fitness influencers. In this study, I combined the SCM, counterstereotyping, and updating impressions literatures to test whether counterstereotypic updated information reduces anti-fat bias towards both an individual exemplar and for larger-bodied people in general. A mixed factorial design was used, with a within-subjects factor of time (initial and updated impression) and a between-subjects factor of type of updated information (stereotypic, counter-stereotypic, and control). Participants (N = 67) completed measures of their impressions of a larger-bodied fitness influencer after watching an initial video and again after watching a video providing updated information. Participants also completed implicit and explicit measures of anti-fat controllability stereotypes and an explicit measure of anti-fat prejudice. Although there was no support for the hypotheses that countereotypic updated information could alter impressions of a larger-bodied individual exemplar and alter antifat bias overall, an exploratory hashtag analysis suggested that fitness influencers experience weight stigma on social media. Because of these findings, there is reason to believe that this specific intervention may not be an effective way to combat weight stigma.<p></p>