Overweight people are seen as less capable of thinking and acting autonomously, study finds

A series of five experiments reported that people tend to deny overweight individuals' mental agency, but not experience. Heavier weight people are seen as less capable of controlling their own lives, thinking and acting autonomously. However, weight did not affect the level of experience ascribed to the person being assessed. The study was published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Negative feelings, stereotypes about and discrimination against heavier-weight people are widespread. They affect how heavier-weight people are treated in social situations from private life to discrimination in education, employment and medical treatment. Scientists call this the “anti-fat stigma” and describe it as “a pervasive ideology targeting heavier-weight people” that occurs across countries, gender, race and age.

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