Reducing social distance caused by weight stigma: Nostalgia changes behavior toward overweight individuals

Weight stigma, a negative attitude toward the overweight, can lead to discriminatory practices, as well increase overweight individuals' vulnerability depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. We propose that nostalgia induction attenuate weight stigma. Participants identified an individual, before writing about interpersonal encounter with characterized by either central (e.g., “keepsakes” “childhood”) or peripheral “wishing” “daydreaming”) features of construct “nostalgia.” who recalled (vs. peripheral) nostalgic reported more positive feelings beliefs individuals in general. Moreover, influenced behavior: Nostalgic control) participants reduced their social distance when anticipating interaction individual. The effect on all three outcomes (i.e., feelings, beliefs, behavior) was mediated greater connectedness, which turn associated higher inclusion outgroup self increased trust.