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Weighed Down by Stigma: How Weight‐Based Social Identity Threat Contributes to Weight Gain and Poor Health
Open accessAbstract
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 and physical health outcomes. In this article, we propose a social identity threat model elucidating how weight stigma contributes to weight gain and poorer mental and physical health among overweight individuals. We propose that weight‐based social identity threat increases physiological stress, undermines self‐regulation, compromises psychological health, and increases the motivation to avoid stigmatizing domains (e.g., the gym) and escape the stigma by engaging in unhealthy weight loss behaviors. Given the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the US, weight stigma thus has the potential to undermine the health and wellbeing of millions of Americans.
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Sorted by citations
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“This has been replicated in multiple national longitudinal studies ( Jackson et al. 2014, Sutin & Terracciano 2013) and in data from adolescents documenting the emergence of obesity, as well (Hunger & Tomiyama 2014).”
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Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Hunger, J. M., Major, B., Blodorn, A., & Miller, C. T.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- University of Vermont (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hunger, Jeffrey M.
- Venue
- Social and Personality Psychology Compass
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-06
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 255-268
- ISSN
- 1751-9004 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5720363
- OpenAlex
- W1533895333
- Cited by
- 332
- References
- 99
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 47 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 53.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Social and Personality Psychology Compass (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (5R01HL112818-02)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity and Health Practices
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- weight stigma, social identity threat, weight gain, obesity, overweight, mental health, physical health, physiological stress, self-regulation, stigma avoidance, social identity
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