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10.1177/0146167202238369 ARTICLE
PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
Hebl, Mannix / THE WEIGHT OF OBESITY
The Weight of Obesity in Evaluating Others:
A Mere Proximity Effect
Michelle R. Hebl
Laura M. Mannix
Rice University
Previous research demonstrates that we tend to derogate individ
-
uals who are perceived to be in a social relationship with stigma
-
tized persons. Two experiments examined whether this phenome
-
non also occurs for individuals seen in the presence of an obese
person and whether a social relationship is necessary for stigma
-
tization to spread. The results from both experiments revealed
that a male job applicant was rated more negatively when seen
with an overweight compared to a normal weight female and
that just being in the mere proximity of an overweight woman
was enough to trigger stigmatization toward the male applicant.
Experiment 2 examined possible moderating effects of the prox-
imity finding. Applicants seated next to heavy (vs. average-
weight) individuals were denigrated consistently regardless of
the perceived depth of the relationship, the participant’s anti-fat
attitudes or gender, and whether or not positive information was
presented concerning the woman. The profound nature of the
obesity stigma and implications for impression formation pro
-
cesses are discussed.
Tell me the company you keep and I’ll tell you who you
are.
—Cervantes (1607)
In his influential book titled Stigma: Notes on the Man
-
agement of Spoiled Identity, Goffman (1963) defined “cour
-
tesy stigma” as the tendency for individuals who associate
with stigmatized individuals to face negative interper
-
sonal and professional outcomes. Goffman proposed
that this threat leads many nonstigmatized individuals to
avoid those who are stigmatized. Although a body of
research has shown that people do avoid and terminate
interactions sooner with stigmatized than nonstigmatized
individuals (e.g., Snyder, Kleck, Strenta, & Mentzer,
1979; Swim, Ferguson, & Hyers, 1999; Word, Zanna, &
Cooper, 1974), only a handful of studies have examined
the phenomenon of stigma spreading and virtually none
has tested its potential presence with respect to obesity, a
stigma that is particularly pernicious to its bearers (e.g.,
Miller & Downey, 1999; Roehling, 1999). The current
study fills this void by examining whether the presence of
an obese individual taints impressions of those who
appear in close proximity to the obese person.
The few empirical studies conducted on courtesy stig-
mas consistently reveal that relatives of stigmatized indi-
viduals are negatively affected. For example, individuals
are more likely to experience social rejection, get teased,
and be judged as having their own set of problems if they
are perceived to be related to stigmatized individuals
than if they are not (e.g., Birenbaum, 1992; Levinson &
Starling, 1981; Mehta & Farina, 1988). Roommates of
individuals who are gay and lesbian are also negatively
evaluated (Sigelman, Howell, Cornell, Cutright, &
Dewey, 1990), and Neuberg, Smith, Hoffman, and Rus
-
sell (1994) found that friends of gay men experience
denigration, or a “stigma by association.” Underlying all
of these past studies is the implicit assumption that a rela
-
tionship (e.g., family member, roommate, friendship) is
necessary for the person perception effects of a stigma to
spread to associates. The validity of this assumption has
never, to our knowledge, been directly tested. Is it possi
-
ble that a person merely seen in the presence of an indi
-
vidual known to be gay would experience stigmatization
simply as a function of his or her mere proximity to the
Authors’ Note: We thank Robert Dipboye, Jack Dovidio, Bob Kleck, Da
-
vid Lane, David Schneider, and Paul Davies for their feedback on ear
-
lier versions of this article. We also thank Eden King, Jenessa Shapiro,
Morela Hernandez, Genetha Gray, Lisa Rosen, Dan DeHanas, Sabina
Dugal, Chuck Baker, Ingrid Berglund, and Blake Barker for their assis
-
tance in completing these studies. All correspondence should be di
-
rected to Michelle Hebl, Rice University, Department of Psychology-
MS25, 6100 S. Main Street, Houston, TX 77005; e-mail: hebl@rice.edu.
PSPB, Vol. 29 No. 1, January 2003 28-38
DOI: 10.1177/0146167202238369
© 2003 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
28
stigmatized individual? The current study varies the
nature of the social relationship perceived to exist with
an obese individual and examines the implications of
the nature of this association on person perception out
-
comes. In Experiment 2, potential moderators of the
stigma-by-association effect are explored.
This research assesses the importance of appearance
cues in impression formation processes. Certainly, a
body of research has revealed that people use appear
-
ance cues of targets to judge targets (e.g., Esses & Web
-
ster, 1988; Rothblum, Miller, & Garbutt, 1988), but the
possibility that such cues might influence those in prox
-
imity to the target has not been researched (cf. Sigall &
Landy, 1973). If the physical characteristics of one indi
-
vidual do alter impressions of another, a number of ques
-
tions emerge. For instance, how closely must the two
individuals be associated with each other before the
traits of one “spread” to the other? Does the spreading
occur across all person perception domains equally? Is
the perceiver aware that the impressions of one individ
-
ual are tainting his or her impressions of another individ
-
ual? The current research addresses such questions.
The present research also addresses the social
interactional nature and interpersonal consequences of
stigma, which is an understudied phenomenon in
stigma research (see Hebl & Dovidio, 2002; cf. Heather-
ton, Kleck, Hebl, & Hull, 2000; Hebl & Kleck, 2002; Swim
& Stangor, 1998). For a number of reasons (e.g., laws,
ordinances, building codes, organizational structures
rewarding diversity), stigmatized individuals are choos-
ing to enter (rather than remain hidden from) society at
unprecedented rates (see Hebl & Kleck, 2000). This
increased prevalence of stigmatized individuals necessi
-
tates a better understanding of mixed interactions so
that we can fully capitalize on the diversity and resources
of those who may possess what are perceived to be unde
-
sirable characteristics. One such characteristic is that of
obesity.
Obesity Stigma
Obesity continues to remain one of the most devastat
-
ing stigmas to possess, particularly for women (see
Crocker, Cornwell, & Major, 1993; DeJong & Kleck,
1986; Fallon, 1990; Miller & Downey, 1999; Roehling,
1999). This is despite the fact that almost one in every
two Americans adults are overweight and one quarter of
Americans are obese (Flegal, Carroll, Kuczmarksi, &
Johnson, 1998).
1
Those who are heavy are perceived as
less active, intelligent, hardworking, attractive, popular,
successful, and athletic than people of average weight
(Harris, Harris, & Bochner, 1982; Hebl & Heatherton,
1997). Heavy individuals also are viewed as weak willed,
self-indulgent, and immoral—attributions that may
result because most people in our society view obesity as
a condition that is controllable (Weiner, 1995). In inter
-
personal relationships, heavy people are trusted less and
are less likely to be chosen as friends and romantic part
-
ners (DeJong & Kleck, 1986; Harris, 1990). There is also
uniformity in the negative social reactions that they
incur from diverse populations, including thin people,
college students, health care workers, peers, parents,
and even heavy people themselves (see Crandall, 1994;
Friedman & Brownell, 1995; Hebl & Xu, 2001; Rothblum
et al., 1988). In professional contexts, Roehling (1999)
reviewed 29 studies and found evidence of discrimina
-
tion at every stage in the employment cycle, from selec
-
tion and placement to wages, benefits, and compensa
-
tion to discipline and discharge. Furthermore, he
suggested that the actual extent of discrimination may
be much greater, given the fact that so few obese job
applicants are likely to be hired at all (Larkin & Pines,
1979; Pingitore, Dugoni, Tindale, & Spring, 1994).
The first goal of the present research is to investigate
whether impressions of an individual are influenced by
the perceived weight of an associate. If impressions are
indeed influenced, we will assess whether they influence
different evaluative domains in the same manner and
degree. That is, do stigmatized individuals solely influ-
ence associated others on interpersonal dimensions or
does the influence also spread to hiring and professional
competence dimensions? A second goal is to examine
factors that may clarify the potential stigma-by-
association effect. For instance, we manipulate the depth
of the perceived relationship between the stigmatized
and nonstigmatized individuals. We propose that just
being proximally connected may be a sufficient condi
-
tion to create a stigma spreading effect. Further devalua
-
tion may result from choosing to maintain, strengthen,
or sever a relationship with a stigmatized individual (see
Ruscher & Hammer, 1996); however, we do not believe
the relationship element is always necessary for spread
-
ing to occur. Similarly, we explore additional factors that
may clarify the extent to which the obesity stigma might
spread across individuals. For instance, one factor may
include gender, because research shows that weight is of
differential concern to men and women (for a review,
see Jackson, 1992). Another factor may be the extent to
which people possess anti-fat attitudes (see Crandall,
1994), a set of beliefs that may differentiate those who
use obesity as a rating cue more than others. Our third
goal is to assess whether compensating information
about an obese individual might offset the negative influ
-
ence of the stigma in evaluating others. We particularly
focus on potential moderators in Experiment 2.
As a whole, then, the first experiment assesses how
impressions of obese individuals may taint the company
they keep. Such an associative analysis is important given
the high frequency of obese individuals in American
Hebl, Mannix / THE WEIGHT OF OBESITY 29
society and the severely negative personal and profes
-
sional ramifications that they face. In the first experi
-
ment, we simply show participants photographs depict
-
ing a male target who appears with an average weight or
heavy woman. We predict that the male applicants
depicted in a photograph with a heavy woman will be
denigrated significantly more than if they are depicted
with an average-weight woman.
EXPERIMENT 1
Method
Participants. A total of 40 (20 men, 20 women) adult
participants
2
took part in the experiment. None of these
participants were suspicious of the cover story, and only 1
female participant’s data were removed because she did
not complete all of the dependent measures. Thus, the
data analyses are based on the responses of 39
participants.
Procedure. Four (2 men, 2 women) experimenters
each approached 10 (5 men, 5 women) individuals at a
local airport terminal and asked them to participate in “a
research study examining the factors that influence a
prospective employer in the final stages of the hiring
process.” If participants gave their informed consent,
they randomly received one of two sets of application
materials. If any person refused, the experimenter
approached another individual of the same sex until
each experimenter had recruited five participants of
each sex.
Materials. In each job application set, participants
read a brief cover story, which led them to believe that
they would be reviewing materials from an actual hiring
decision made recently by a consulting firm. It was
explained that the personnel office of the consulting
firm had made its final hiring decisions following a small
social reception at the firm, where the company person
-
nel mingled, socialized, and obtained a more informal,
personal impression of the applicants. This bogus infor
-
mation was provided to reinforce the cover story and
provided a rationale as to why a photograph (ostensibly
taken at the social reception) was included in the appli
-
cation packet. Participants were randomly assigned one
of the job applicant’s folders and completed a follow-up
evaluation as soon as they had finished examining the
materials in the folder. These materials were described
as belonging to a job applicant who had made it past the
initial steps of the hiring process. They included the
applicant’s resume, depicting a well-qualified individual,
and a photograph of the applicant at the reception.
Photographs of the applicant. One of two photographs
was used to establish the weight manipulation: A photo
of the applicant seated with an average-weight woman or
one of the applicant seated next to a heavy woman. To
create and standardize these stimuli, pictures were taken
of two pairs of 21-year-old male and female targets, all of
whom had been rated as average in attractiveness in a
pretest and were dressed in “business casual” attire
(dress slacks and a blazer). Two female volunteers, both
of whom were an actual Size 8, were photographed first
without and then with the addition of both an obesity
prosthesis and comparable Women’s Size 22 business
casual attire. Across these different photographs, the
same pose, facial expressions, and camera distance were
maintained. Pretesting on 15 naïve respondents ensured
us that the obese women were viewed as authentic. Simi
-
larly, all 40 of the study’s participants reported believing
that the overweight female targets looked natural (albeit
heavy) and none of them reported any suspicions
regarding the manipulation of apparent weight.
Measures. Participants completed a 12-item question
-
naire, with items drawn from previous stigma-by-
association and/or obesity research (i.e., Harris et al.,
1982; Neuberg et al., 1994; Sigall & Landy, 1973). The
first five items asked participants to indicate the extent to
which they found the applicant likable, sociable, inter-
personally skilled, enthusiastic, and driven.
We also asked participants to indicate the extent to
which they would recommend hiring the individual to
see if the hiring bias against those who are heavy (see
Roehling, 1999) would generalize to persons seen in the
presence of obese individuals. In addition, we asked par-
ticipants to rate the applicant on professional qualifica-
tions, match with the corporation, corporate image, like-
lihood of job perseverance, and professional ethics.
These ratings scales were derived from actual organiza
-
tional interview materials. Finally, we had participants
estimate the applicants’ earning potential so that we
could examine whether the socioeconomic handicaps
faced by overweight individuals (e.g., Crandall, 1995;
Sobal, 1991) would similarly affect associates. All 12 of
these interpersonal, hiring, and professional measures
were presented to participants on scales anchored by (1)
not at all and (9) extremely.
Results
Reduction of dependent measures. A principal compo
-
nents factor analysis with a varimax rotation was con
-
ducted on the 12 measures previously described. Two
factors emerged from this analysis, together accounting
for 72% of the variance. The first factor, which we call
Professional Qualities, had an eigenvalue of 6.85 and
included the measures of corporate image (.87), profes
-
sional ethics (.75), endurance and perseverance (.74),
applicant/corporation match (.72), earning potential
(.72), and qualification (.66). A reliability for these items
revealed a Cronbach’s alpha of .91 and so were averaged
30 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
into a composite measure. The second factor, labeled
Interpersonal Skills, had an eigenvalue of 1.05 and
included the measures of interpersonal skills (.92),
sociable (.84), likability (.69), enthusiasm and energy
(.65), and personal drive (.65). A reliability for these
measures revealed a Cronbach’s alpha of .89; therefore,
these items were averaged into a composite. Finally, the
single item that assessed participants’ willingness to hire
applicants had relatively low loadings on both the Profes
-
sional Qualities and Interpersonal Skills factors (.52 and
.50, respectively). Because the study’s ostensible purpose
was to make hiring recommendations and evaluate the
applicants, and because the loadings on both factors
were low, we decided to retain Hiring as an individual
item (see also Roehling, 1999). Correlations between
the composite scores were as follows: Professional Qual
-
ities and Interpersonal Skills (r = .79), Professional Qual
-
ities and Hiring (r = .83), and Interpersonal Skills and
Hiring (r = .76), all significant at the p < .05 level.
Confederate-pair effects. We used two sets of photo
-
graphic stimuli so that the results could not be attributed
to any idiosyncrasies regarding one particular male
applicant and female companion. As predicted, no sig-
nificant effects emerged across the different pairs of con-
federates (all ps ns).
Major analyses. The data were analyzed using a
repeated measures two-way analysis of variance with
Weight (Heavy, Average) as a between-subjects factor
and Dimension Rated (Hiring, Professional Qualities,
Interpersonal Skills) as a within-subjects factor. An alter-
nate analysis with three dependent variables is also possi
-
ble but this would not have allowed us to specifically
assess the Weight × Dimensions Rated interaction.
As shown in the top portion of Table 1, participants
were influenced by the weight of the woman in the pho
-
tograph in making judgments about the qualities of the
male applicant. Participants were less likely to recom
-
mend hiring applicants depicted with a heavy woman
(M = 5.95, SD = 1.50) than those pictured with an aver
-
age-weight woman (M = 6.90, SD = 1.41). Similarly, par
-
ticipants rated applicants pictured with a heavy woman
(M = 6.03, SD = 1.29) lower on Professional Qualities
than applicants pictured with an average-weight woman
(M = 6.94, SD = 1.20). Finally, participants rated appli
-
cants depicted with a heavy woman (M = 6.33, SD = 1.31)
lower on Interpersonal Skills than those with an average-
weight woman (M = 6.99, SD = 0.96). Supporting these
differences, the main effect of Weight was significant,
F(1, 37) = 4.96, p = .03, η
2
= .12. There was no evidence
that the Weight effect was different across the three
dimensions rated in that the Weight × Dimension Rated
interaction did not approach significance, F(2, 74) =
0.52, p = .57, η
2
= .015.
Discussion
The results provide evidence of a stigma-by-
association effect with respect to obesity. Using standard
-
ized stimuli that differed solely in the perceived weight
of a woman seated next to the job applicant, participants
consistently used this weight information to make judg
-
ments about the male associate. Across the domains of
Hiring, Professional Qualities, and Interpersonal Skills,
the male associate was denigrated substantially more if
he appeared with a heavy woman than an average-sized
woman. The strength and consistency of these results are
striking and provide evidence that obesity appears to
affect people beyond just those who bear the obesity
stigma.
It is not clear from this experiment, however, if an
assumed relationship between the two individuals
(applicant and heavy individual) existed in the minds of
participants and to what extent this presumed relation-
ship was a necessary ingredient of the spreading effect.
That is, the results could be attributable to either this
presumption of a relationship dynamic or they could be
the function of a mere proximity effect. The latter expla
-
nation suggests that negative person perception conse
-
quences will accrue for job applicants merely seen in the
presence of an overweight individual.
EXPERIMENT 2
Experiment 2 directly manipulates the perceived rela
-
tionship between applicant and stigmatized individual
such that in one case they are portrayed as relationship
partners and in the other case they are portrayed as having
no association (see Sigall & Landy, 1973). A relationship-
based explanation would predict a significant interaction
between weight and relationship, such that applicants
appearing with the heavy woman would be denigrated
more than when appearing with the average-weight tar
-
get, but primarily when the relationship is defined as
intimate. A mere proximity effect, however, would pre
-
dict a significant main effect for weight and the absence
of a significant interaction. The strength of the relation
-
ship would be incidental. One of the goals of Experi
-
Hebl, Mannix / THE WEIGHT OF OBESITY 31
TABLE 1: Applicant Ratings (means and standard deviations) Bro
-
ken Down by Weight of the Proximal Woman
Hiring Professional Interpersonal
Study 1
Average 6.90 (1.41) 6.94 (1.20) 6.99 (0.96)
Heavy 5.95 (1.50) 6.03 (1.29) 6.33 (1.31)
Study 2
Average 6.25 (1.18) 5.73 (1.03) 6.05 (1.00)
Heavy 5.71 (1.45) 5.32 (1.19) 5.52 (1.31)
ment 2, then, is to ascertain the impact of relationship
strength on the stigma-by-association effect.
A second goal of Experiment 2 is to test the possibility
that an inferential attribution process of evaluating the
associate in light of the stigmatized target might explain
a stigma-by-association effect. In essence, participants
might adopt a “below market value” heuristic to judge
the women, and thereby the man. That is, if the woman is
obese, she is judged to have undesirable qualities (Allon,
1982; Roehling, 1999; but for subcultural variation, see
Crandall & Martinez, 1996; Hebl & Heatherton, 1997). If
a man chooses this woman as a dating partner, then he
may be viewed as possessing less desirable traits as well
(see Goode & Preissler, 1983). Such a “below market
value” inferential attribution process shares commonali
-
ties with a rationale based on equity theory (see Fiske &
Neuberg, 1990; Kunda & Sherman-Williams, 1993).
Accordingly, if individuals are not matched on some
characteristic (e.g., attractiveness), the one with a deficit
must have a compensating strength in another sphere
(e.g., intelligence, outgoing personality, financial
resources, athleticism or a special talent; see Berscheid,
Dion, Walster, & Walster, 1971; Kernis & Wheeler, 1981).
In the current study, then, if the woman has something
below market value (e.g., she is obese), then she must
have something else above market value to compensate
or else the associated man must have deficits as well.
One of the ways that we can test the possibility of this
attributional process is to increase the market value of
the woman by offering some compensating information
for her obesity. In Experiment 2, we sometimes present
positive information about the obese individual’s special
talent (e.g., it is revealed that she has won a prestigious
award) and hypothesize that such information might
cancel or compensate for the negativity associated with
the obesity.
A third goal of Experiment 2 is to assess whether atti
-
tudes toward obesity in general (as measured through
Crandall’s [1994] Anti-Fat Attitudes [AFA] question
-
naire) might influence the relation between viewing
applicants depicted with differentially sized individuals
and rating them on evaluation measures. Specifically, we
predict that attitudes toward obesity will moderate the
relationship between weight condition and ratings of the
associate. This prediction arises from a number of stud
-
ies conducted by Crandall and his colleagues (Crandall,
1994, 1995; Crandall & Martinez, 1996), showing that
AFA is an individual difference that has predictive utility
under some conditions.
Finally, it remains unclear whether the results found
in Experiment 1 are limited to a paper-and-pencil meth
-
odology, in which participants have little else to go on
other than two basic pieces of information (i.e., a resume
and a photograph). In an actual face-to-face mixed inter
-
action, the impact of the obesity stigma may be attenu
-
ated; evaluators may disassociate an applicant from a
negative association more readily (see Fiske & Neuberg,
1990; Kunda & Sherman-Williams, 1993). Alternatively,
the obesity stigma—a stigma that is so devastatingly
strong—might actually have a more robust negative
influence on associates if the visual cue of obesity is actu
-
ally present. Experiment 2 will manipulate the obesity of
individuals by using real-life participants who, with the
use of prostheses, appear to be heavy. Thus, a final goal
of Experiment 2 will be to examine the generalizability
of the results of Experiment 1 as the paradigm moves
from paper-and-pencil methodology to a real-life
interaction.
Method
Overview. Participants came individually to a labora
-
tory experiment called “structured interviews,” in which
they believed they would be making hiring recommen
-
dations. When they arrived, they found another person,
ostensibly also a participant but actually a male confeder
-
ate, in the waiting room. In all conditions other than the
control condition, a third person (a female confederate
appearing either average in size or heavy through the
use of an obesity prosthesis) was present as well. The
female confederate presented herself as either a girl-
friend or as having no relationship with the male confed-
erate, and favorable information was mentioned about
her in half of the conditions. Thus, eight conditions
involving weight (heavy, average), relation (girlfriend,
no relationship), and compensatory information (posi-
tive, none) were created and an extra control (applicant
alone) condition was added. Following an introduction,
participants were escorted to another room, where in a
pre-interview stage of the study they were asked to rate
the male candidate on personal and professional mea
-
sures and reported their pre-interview hiring opinions.
Finally, after completing the rating task, participants
were debriefed and the actual interview never took
place.
Participants. A total of 196 (79 men, 115 women, and 2
who did not indicate their gender) undergraduate stu
-
dents participated in this experiment in exchange for
partial course credit in their psychology classes. None
were suspicious concerning the actual nature of the
study.
Confederates. Three pairs of male and female under
-
graduate students served as experimental confederates.
As in Experiment 1, we again used multiple confederates
so that the results could not be attributed to particular
idiosyncratic appearances of any one confederate or
pairing. Pairs of confederates were trained thoroughly
on their roles and instructed to remain consistent across
32 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
experimental sessions. Women wearing the obesity pros
-
theses were pretested to ensure that they looked credible
and were given ample time to adapt to wearing the pros
-
thesis. No significant differences emerged across the dif
-
ferent pairs on any of the study variables (all ps > .10).
Procedure. Prior to arriving for a study titled “struc
-
tured interviews,” participants were assigned randomly
to the control condition (no female confederate pres
-
ent) or to one of eight experimental conditions. In all
conditions, a participant individually arrived at the wait
-
ing room of a laboratory and sat down in a chair opposite
from a male confederate playing the role of another
naïve participant. The male confederate was always
there prior to the participant’s arrival and never spoke to
the participant. After approximately 1 min of having the
participants wait together, the experimenter emerged
from a back room of the laboratory, introduced herself,
asked the participants for their names, and then began
describing the procedures of the experiment. The 1-min
lag time was used to ensure that the participant took
notice of anyone seated in the waiting room. The female
experimenter told the participant and male confederate
that they would be engaging in an interview and would
be randomly assigned to play the role of either an inter-
viewer or an applicant. By having the participant first
draw lots from a “rigged” hat, it was predetermined that
the participant always was assigned the role of the inter-
viewer and the male confederate to the role of job
applicant.
The experimenter explained that the first part of the
study involved the completion of some questionnaires so
that a baseline rating could be obtained on the depend
-
ent measures of interest before the formal part of the
interview commenced. For ostensible reasons of confi
-
dentiality and privacy in completing these forms, the
participant and confederate were shown to separate
rooms. In reality, these instructions allowed us to isolate
the participant to conduct the study: The experimenter
entered the room with the participant and told him or
her that a second purpose of the study was to examine
how accurately first impressions of applicants (before
the interview) matched the ratings of the applicants
after an interview. Congruent with this mission, it was
described as necessary to obtain the participant’s first
impressions of the applicant. To reduce the influence of
social desirability and kindness norms, the participant
was told that in the past, other participants had been
extremely successful in discriminating between excel
-
lent and poor applicants and it was assumed that he or
she could do the same. Following a final set of instruc
-
tions asking the participant to be as honest as possible in
their ratings, the experimenter left the participant to
ostensibly meet with the other “waiting participant” and
deliver similar instructions. The participant completed a
questionnaire assessing the male confederate on a num
-
ber of dimensions, and afterward, the participant never
actually engaged in the interview. Rather, after complet
-
ing the questionnaire and a suspicion and manipulation
check, the participant was fully debriefed, thanked, and
given partial psychology course credit.
Experimental manipulations. In the control condition,
the procedure did not deviate from that which was
described previously. However, in the experimental con
-
ditions, a second confederate (female) was present and
there were three sets of manipulations. The first manipu
-
lation involved the appearance of the female confeder
-
ate. In half of the conditions, female confederates
appeared as they normally did, wearing Women’s Size 8
clothing (average condition). In the other half of the
conditions, confederates wore a professionally con
-
structed obesity prosthesis and clothing of a Women’s
Size 22 (heavy condition). In both size conditions,
female confederates wore comparable black slacks, a
white turtle neck, and a blue pullover jacket; male con
-
federates always wore jeans and a long-sleeved, button-
down shirt. To ensure that confederates’ behaviors were
standardized across conditions, they followed memo-
rized and rehearsed behavioral scripts that kept their
speech to a minimum and maintained eye contact with
the experimenter.
The second manipulation involved the apparent asso-
ciation between the female and male confederates,
which was manipulated to reveal either that they were in
a romantic relationship or that they were strangers. Dur-
ing the introductions, the experimenter asked the
woman (who was seated in the chair next to the appli
-
cant) who she was. In the Relationship Association con
-
dition, she explained that she was waiting for her boy
-
friend (pointing to the male confederate) to finish the
experiment so that they could go somewhere together
afterward. To further underscore the relationship condi
-
tion, she was holding hands with the male confederate
when the participant arrived. In the No Association con
-
dition, she explained that she was waiting for another
experimenter to arrive for a separate research study.
The third manipulation involved information pre
-
sented about the female confederate. In half of the
experimental sessions, positive information about the
female confederate was revealed during the introduc
-
tions. Specifically, following the response that the female
confederate gave to the experimenter (either that she
was waiting for her boyfriend or that she was a stranger
waiting for another experiment), the experimenter gave
a puzzled look of vague recognition to the female con
-
federate and asked her if she was the same person who
was recently featured in the school newspaper, having
won a very prestigious campus award. She answered affir
-
matively and humbly. The experimenter continued by
Hebl, Mannix / THE WEIGHT OF OBESITY 33
congratulating her on such a noteworthy, exceptional
accomplishment (“Didn’t you win the Baker Award? ...I
thought so....Don’t you also speak four lan
-
guages? . . . That’s really awesome, congratulations!”).
This exchange and the award manipulation were
intended to enhance the positivity and desirability of the
woman. Pretest data had revealed that both men and
women rated a college woman who had won the award
and had multilingual abilities more favorably (M = 8.28,
SD = 0.79) than they rated the average college woman
(M = 6.64, SD = 1.41), t(24) = 5.70, p < .001.
Measures. The same questionnaire used in Experi
-
ment 1 was also used in Experiment 2. Following the
completion of this instrument, participants also com
-
pleted manipulation checks. On an open-ended item,
they were asked to indicate what they believed to be the
true purpose of the study. To test the weight manipula
-
tion, participants (other than those in the control condi
-
tion) rated the female confederate’s weight on a 9-point
scale anchored by 1 (not at all fat),5(somewhat fat), and 9
(very fat). To test the relationship manipulation, these
participants also were asked to answer a multiple-choice
question about the two people in the waiting room, indi-
cating whether they were in a relationship.
Furthermore, in the experimental conditions, partici-
pants were asked to rate, using the same scales, the
female associate in terms of her (a) attractiveness, (b)
wealth, (c) intelligence, and (d) kindness. These ratings
of the female confederate were included to test the possi-
bility that a destigmatization (see Neuberg et al., 1994)
of the heavy woman might occur as a function of being
identified as the relationship partner of a well-qualified
male job candidate. Finally, the AFA (Crandall, 1994)
was included to test whether participants with a strong
bias against obesity might be more likely to stigmatize
the associate of a heavy woman.
Results
Manipulation checks. The results revealed that all
manipulations were successful. First, those who partici
-
pated in the experiment in the presence of an obese
female confederate rated her to be significantly heavier
(M = 5.68, SD = 1.88)
3
than did those participating in the
presence of a thin female confederate (M = 1.66, SD =
0.92), t(173) = 18.36, p < .001.
4
Second, of the partici
-
pants in the experimental conditions, 161 accurately
recalled the relationship between the two confederates
precisely, whereas the 16 others did not.
5
Third, partici
-
pants were asked to indicate the award that the woman
won. All 84 participants in this condition indicated that
the woman received some award, although only 62 were
able to specifically cite the exact name of the award. On
the major study variables, no differences emerged
between those who did and did not recall the
relationship precisely or between the two confederates
who did and did not recall the award by name (ps > .10).
To ensure that the confederates with positive informa
-
tion revealed about them were rated more favorably rela
-
tive to the ones for whom no information was given, we
conducted a series of t tests on all four items assessed
about the confederates in this condition. No differences
emerged in ratings of kindness, t(173) = 1.26, p > .20, or
attractiveness, t(173) = 1.15, p > .20. However, women
with the positive information attached to them were
rated as more intelligent, t(172) = 3.37, p = .001, and
more financially advantaged, t(172) = 3.83, p < .001, than
those without any compensating information provided
(Intelligence: M
pos info
= 7.02, SD = 1.45; M
no info
= 6.30, SD =
1.37; Wealthy: M
pos info
= 6.13, SD = 1.45; M
no info
= 5.28, SD =
1.48). Thus, evidence suggests that positive information
is not changing the evaluations of women’s appearance.
Congruent with previous findings (e.g., Sobal, 1991),
we also found evidence of a stereotypic bias against heavy
women on the ratings of attractiveness and financial
advantage, such that women who were of average weight
were rated to be more attractive, t(173) = 3.37, p < .001,
and marginally more financially advantaged than the
heavy women, t(172) = 3.37, p < .06 (Attractive: M
ave
=
6.17, SD = 1.46; M
heavy
= 4.58, SD = 1.57; Wealthy: M
ave
=
5.88, SD = 1.39; M
heavy
= 5.44, SD = 1.64). No differences
emerged on ratings of kindness, t(173) = –0.07, p > .90,
or intelligence t(172) = –1.03, p > .30. Although we also
investigated the possibility of interactions between size,
information, and relationship in rating the women on
these four factors, no higher order interactions emerged.
Reduction of the dependent measures. Consistent with
Experiment 1, we again retained the individual item
Hirability. A principal components factor analysis with a
varimax rotation on the 11 remaining individual items
revealed two factors accounting for 68% of the variance.
The first factor, Professional Qualities, had an
eigenvalue of 6.17 and included professional ethics
(.83), endurance (.80), comfort with applicant/corpo
-
ration match (.77), qualifications (.74), corporate image
(.66), and earning potential (.64). A reliability analysis
conducted on these items revealed Cronbach’s alpha of
.88; therefore, a composite was created by averaging
across these items. The second factor, Interpersonal
Skills, had an eigenvalue of 1.31 and included the follow
-
ing dependent measures: interpersonal skills (.88),
sociable (.89), enthusiasm (.78), likable (.64), and will to
succeed (.58). A reliability analysis conducted on these
items revealed Cronbach’s alpha of .89 and an averaged
composite was created. Correlations between the three
composite scores were as follows: Professional Qualities
and Interpersonal Skills (r = .69), Professional Qualities
and Hiring (r = .73), and Interpersonal Skills and Hiring
(r = .72).
34 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
Major analyses. As in the previous experiment, we
again conducted a repeated measures analysis to test
whether the findings that emerged interacted with the
particular dimension being rated. Thus, we specifically
conducted a repeated-measures five-way analysis of vari
-
ance with between-subjects factors of Weight (Heavy,
Average), Relationship Strength (Romantic Partner,
Stranger), Compensating Information (Positive, None),
Anti-Fat Attitudes (High, Low),
6
and Participant Gender
(Male, Female). Rated Dimension (Hirability, Profes
-
sional Qualities, Interpersonal Skills) was a within-
subjects factor.
As shown in the bottom portion of Table 1, the key
result of Experiment 1 that participants are influenced
by the size of the woman seated next to the applicant was
replicated. Participants were less willing to hire appli
-
cants seated next to a heavy woman (M = 5.71, SD = 1.45)
than applicants seated next to the average-sized woman
(M = 6.25, SD = 1.18); rated applicants lower on Profes
-
sional Qualities when they were seated next to a heavy
woman (M = 5.32, SD = 1.19) than an average-sized
woman (M = 5.73, SD = 1.02); and rated applicants lower
in Interpersonal Skills when they were seated next to a
heavy woman (M = 5.52, SD = 1.30) than an average-
weight woman (M = 6.05, SD = 1.00). The main effect of
Weight was significant, F(1, 142) = 5.47, p = .02, η
2
= .04.
There was no evidence that the Weight effect was differ-
ent across the three dimensions rated. The Weight ×
Dimension Rated interaction did not approach signifi-
cance, F(2, 284) = 0.44, p = .65, η
2
= .003.
In conducting the five-way analysis, we found no evi-
dence to suggest that Relationship Strength, Compen
-
sating Information, Anti-Fat Attitude scores, or Partici
-
pant Gender moderated the spread of stigma effect.
That is, no two-way or higher order interactions involv
-
ing Weight emerged. The only other significant effect
besides the main effect for Weight was a Relationship
Strength × Participant Gender interaction, F(1, 142) =
3.86, p = .05, η
2
= .03. Male and female participants
viewed applicants similarly when they were seated next
to strangers. However, when the applicants were seated
next to girlfriends, male participants denigrated the
applicants much more than did female participants.
Given the large number of tests conducted and the fact
that this pattern of results was not anticipated, we feel
that this effect should not be given much credence
unless replicated in future studies.
We also conducted Dunnett’s tests to compare the
experimental conditions with that in which the appli
-
cant was depicted alone (Control Condition, N = 19).
The results revealed that those coming to the interview
alone were perceived similarly to those who sat next to an
average-sized woman, all ps > .19. However, those seated
with an obese woman were recommended for hire less
(M = 5.77, SD = 1.45) than those who came alone (M =
6.68, SD = 1.00), t(97) = 2.76, p < .01, and were perceived
to be less professional (M = 5.32, SD = 1.19) than those
who came alone (M = 5.95, SD = 0.88), t(97) = 2.15, p <
.04. No differences emerged on the perceptions of Inter
-
personal Skills between any of the experimental condi
-
tions (p > .46).
Discussion
The results replicate those found in the first study,
again revealing that persons in the proximity of an over
-
weight individual are judged more negatively than those
seen with average-weight individuals. However, the cur
-
rent findings do not support a traditional stigma-by-
association effect because the applicant with the obese
girlfriend was not viewed significantly differently from
the applicant depicted with the obese stranger. That is,
no significant Relationship × Size interaction emerged
(all ps > .10). Rather, the main effect of the obesity
manipulation reveals that discrimination against job
applicants occurs when they are seated with heavy
women regardless of whether they have a relationship
with her.
The current results also reveal no evidence to suggest
that presenting positive information about the woman
alters participant’s perceptions of the male job appli-
cant. The manipulation checks revealed that these
women were indeed rated more positively and desirably
but this did not help the applicant overcome the ill
effects of being seated next to her when she was heavy.
This lack of compensatory effect suggests the extreme
disadvantages that accrue to persons seen in the pres
-
ence of obese women. Perhaps the positive information
presented about the heavy woman simply was not posi
-
tive or dramatic enough to compensate for the strength
of the obesity stigma. Similarly, neither Crandall’s
(1994) AFA nor participant gender clarified this
relationship.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Across two experiments, we found consistency in how
the presence of obesity in one person can negatively
influence individuals who are proximally connected to
the obese person. Furthermore, no variations emerge
across rating dimensions—associates are denigrated on
hiring, professional, and interpersonal domains consis
-
tently. Of importance, these findings clarify the stigma-
by-association phenomenon by suggesting that a rela
-
tionship is not always necessary for spreading of a stigma
to occur. Rather, the current results suggest that a mini
-
mal connection—even one simply linking two people
together by mere proximity—is robust enough to invoke
a spreading phenomenon.
Hebl, Mannix / THE WEIGHT OF OBESITY 35
Such results suggest the profound influence that fea
-
tures of our interpersonal environment may have on
impression formation processes. That is, when we form
impressions of an individual, we may be relying on all
sorts of information that lie beyond the specific stimulus
qualities of that person. If being seated next to a person
who has undesirable characteristics has such a negative
influence on how they are perceived by others, what
effects do other negative environmental cues (e.g.,
undesirable architectural features, poor choice of cloth
-
ing) have on the impressions that are formed of us? Cer
-
tainly, there is a large body of research on the effects of
priming and impression formation (e.g., Higgins,
Rholes, & Jones, 1977; Zhong & Yang, 1998), but the cur
-
rent research suggests that even seemingly unconnected
features can strongly influence impressions.
The current studies also support the need to conduct
studies across varying stigmas before generalizing about
stigma-related phenomenon (see Hebl & Dovidio,
2002). A consistent body of research suggests that the
obesity stigma works differently from other stigmas (e.g.,
Crandall, 1994; Crocker et al., 1993; Miller & Downey,
1999). The current results partially support this in that
the few past stigma-by-association studies (which have
utilized other stigmatizing features) have found evi-
dence to suggest that a relationship was necessary to trig-
ger the stigma-by-association phenomenon (e.g., Mehta
& Farina, 1988; Sigall & Landy, 1973). The current
research now questions whether that relationship is
really necessary and suggests that at least in the case of
the obesity stigma, a proximal connection is sufficient.
Future Research
Given the absence of significant moderating effects in
the present study, future research is needed to under
-
stand the mechanisms underlying the effect that we have
consistently and robustly demonstrated. A number of
possible explanations might account for the fact that the
mere proximity effect is sufficient to produce the spread
-
ing effects of stigmatization. First, the phenomenon
might be affect-driven. Perceivers may notice the obesity
stigma and feel negative affect, which may transfer to
others who are close in proximity. In line with this expla
-
nation, research conducted by Griffitt (1970) found that
participants who were placed in an uncomfortably warm
climate were particularly likely to feel negative affect
toward an interactant expressing dissimilar attitudes.
However, in an in-depth test of the affect explanation
that we conducted, not reported in this article, we found
no support for the possibility that participants experi
-
enced heightened negative affect or disgust as a function
of seeing the overweight woman. Second, the mecha
-
nism may involve cognitive priming. Perceivers who
notice the negative physical feature may be cognitively
primed to focus on other negative features both within
that target and in others who may be near the target.
This “reverse” halo effect explanation receives some sup
-
port if we focus on the ratings that participants made of
the woman who was obese or average. If she was obese,
she was also rated to be less attractive and financially
advantaged. It is possible that obesity might impact not
only the target’s halo but also the halos of those in prox
-
imity. Third, the mechanism may be one involving
attributional processes. Such a rationale would suggest
that a person who associates or even appears in close
proximity to a stigmatized individual also must have
undesirable qualities. We hoped to test this possibility by
presenting positive information that could overshadow
the negative obesity feature, but we did not observe com
-
pensatory reactions. Our positive information manipu
-
lation may not have been strong enough. In sum, we
hope that future research will address the mechanism(s)
underlying this effect and more clearly identify the role
of affect, priming, attributions, and other potential
explanations.
Future research also might address the extent to
which people recognize that they are engaging in this
behavior. Past research has shown that sometimes indi-
viduals actively distance themselves from stigmatized
individuals by engaging in subtle prejudice (e.g.,
Birenbaum, 1992; Swim et al., 1999). This prejudice,
which may or may not be under people’s cognitive aware-
ness, often leads to avoidance and further stigmatization
of the target. However, if this is occurring without much
recognition on the part of the perceivers, future
research might manipulate the level of awareness of the
obesity stigma and awareness of the extent to which judg
-
ments about associates can be influenced by the mere
presence of stigmatized individuals. Research by Gilbert
and Hixon (1991), for instance, suggests that when peo
-
ple are aware that they might be stereotyping, they are
less likely to rely on their suppositions. So, too, research
-
ers have shown that although many people hold stereo
-
types, individuals who are aware of these stereotypes can
consciously override their displays of prejudice and dis
-
crimination (e.g., Devine, Monteith, Zuwerink, & Elliot,
1991; Dovidio, Evans, & Tyler, 1986). Moreover, if stigma
-
tized individuals possess the knowledge that they might
face discrimination, they can engage in coping and com
-
pensatory strategies (e.g., Crocker & Major, 1989; Miller,
Rothblum, Felicio, & Brand, 1995).
Finally, future research might further address the
impact of gender on the stigma-by-association phenome
-
non, particularly with respect to the obesity stigma. We
found no effects of participant gender in the current
study and to reduce the complexity of design, we exam
-
ined only the effects of heavy women on nonheavy men.
Future research also might examine whether the effects
36 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN
of heavy men on nonheavy women converge with the
current results. There is some evidence to suggest that
men may not suffer from the ill effects of obesity as much
as do women; future research might examine if such an
attenuated stigmatizing feature in men similarly has
attenuated effects in their associates.
Conclusion
The current study demonstrated that impression for
-
mation processes are influenced strongly by, what seems
to clearly be at times, background information. Further
-
more, this information cannot be easily undermined by
the presentation of positive, compensating information
or clarified by relationship strength or anti-fat attitudes.
Returning to the quote with which we began this article,
the current results suggest that the company that people
keep does indeed influence how they will be evaluated. We
hope future research will clarify precisely how stigmas
spread and attempt to identify mechanisms that might
disengage associates from experiencing the effects of
stigmatization.
NOTES
1. Although we clearly recognize the medical distinction between
obesity and overweight, we use the terms interchangeably along with
“heavy.” The distinction between these terms has not been made clear
in manipulations used in past psychological studies, so it is not possible
to parse out the differences in a review of the findings (see also Fried-
man & Brownell, 1995). Applying the medical definitions in the strict-
est sense to our review of past findings, however, it is fair to interpret all
of the findings as being accurate for overweight individuals and some-
times accurate for obese individuals.
2. We did not ask participants to indicate their age and gender.
However, all four experimenters approached five males and five
females each. All of the participants were traveling in the middle of the
week during business hours, appeared professional, and appeared to
be middle age.
3. The mean rating of heavy confederates (5.68 out of 9) was lower
than we had anticipated. The scale was anchored from (1) not at all fat
to (9) extremely fat, so 5.68 does indicate more than (5) fat, but our
manipulation may be relatively conservative for testing the effects of
extreme obesity.
4. Shifts in degrees of freedom reflect the fact that occasionally a
participant left an item blank.
5. Of the 16 individuals who did not answer the manipulation check
precisely, 5 were in the “Relationship” condition and 11 participants
were in the “No Relationship” condition. However, it was not that par
-
ticipants answered incorrectly about the relationship; rather, they
tended to leave the item blank. We believe that the No Relationship
condition failures are due to the fact that participants believed the
woman was there (as she said) waiting for another experiment and so
they did not consciously link the two together in a meaningful way. In
line with this reasoning, 6 participants in this condition wrote in the
margins “no woman was mentioned” but then correctly answered the
check for the information manipulation. Similarly, 1 of the partici
-
pants wrote “that woman was not part of the experiment.” Because in
these cases most participants were able to distinguish between some
level of relationship from none, we left them in the data set. In addition
and of importance, there were no changes in the pattern of data or sig
-
nificance of results on major variables when all 16 of these cases were
eliminated.
6. Although we report Anti-Fat Attitudes Scale (AFA)analyses based
on median splits to test for potential interactions, our analysis of AFA as
a covariate also yielded no effects.
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Received November 15, 2001
Revision accepted May 16, 2002
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