Unpacking the psychological weight of weight stigma: A rejection-expectation pathway.

The relationship between weight stigma and eating behavior is explained by weight bias internalization and psychological distress.

Weight stigma is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including disordered eating, but the psychological mechanisms underlying these associations are not well understood. The present study tested whether the association between weight stigma experiences and disordered eating behaviors (emotional eating, uncontrolled eating, and loss-of-control eating) are mediated by weight bias intern...

Weight stigma and health: The mediating role of coping responses.

OBJECTIVE Considerable evidence has documented links between weight stigma and poor health, independent of weight. However, little research has assessed how individuals cope with weight stigma, and how stigma-specific coping responses contribute to health. The present study examined multiple stigma-specific coping responses as mediators of the relationship between experienced weight stigma and ...

Weight stigma mediates the association between BMI and self-reported health.

OBJECTIVE Weight stigma is pervasive in the United States. We tested the hypothesis that stigma may be a mechanism through which obesity negatively affects self-reported health. Two studies examined whether perceived weight-based discrimination and concerns over weight stigma mediated the association between BMI and self-reported psychological health (Study 1) and physical health (Study 2). M...

Weight Stigma 1 Running Title: Children's Weight Stigma Weight Stigma and Educators’ Perceptions of Children’s Psychological Symptoms

Weighed down by stigma: How weight-based social identity threat contributes to weight gain and poor health.

Weight stigma is pervasive, and a number of scholars argue that this profound stigma contributes to the negative effects of weight on psychological and physical health. Some lay individuals and health professionals assume that stigmatizing weight can actually motivate healthier behaviors and promote weight loss. However, as we review, weight stigma is consistently associated with poorer mental ...