Lisa Auster-Gussman

“Obesity Is a Disease” Examining the Self-Regulatory Impact of This Public-Health Message

In the current work, we examined the impact of the American Medical Association’s recent classification of obesity as a disease on weight-management processes. Across three experimental studies, we highlighted the potential hidden costs associated with labeling obesity as a disease, showing that this message, presented in an actual New York Times article, undermined beneficial weight-loss self-regulatory processes. A disease-based, relative to an information-based, weight-management message weakened the importance placed on health-focused dieting and reduced concerns about weight among obese individuals—the very people whom such public-health messages are targeting. Further, the decreased concern about weight predicted higher-calorie food choices. In addition, the disease message, relative to a message that obesity is not a disease, lowered body-image dissatisfaction, but this too predicted higher-calorie food choices. Thus, although defining obesity as a disease may be beneficial for body image, results from the current work emphasize the negative implications of this message for self-regulation.

The obesity stigma asymmetry model: The indirect and divergent effects of blame and changeability beliefs on antifat prejudice.

The American Medical Association hoped that labeling obesity a disease would not only highlight the seriousness of the epidemic and elicit resources but also reduce stigma against obese individuals. In the current work, we tested the consequences of this decision for prejudice against obese individuals. In doing so, we highlighted the complicated link between messages stressing different etiologies of obesity and prejudice. More specifically, we conducted 3 experimental studies (nStudy1 = 188; nStudy2 = 111; nStudy3 = 391), randomly assigning participants to either an obesity is a disease message or a weight is changeable message. Our results indicated that messages focused on obesity as a disease, relative to those focused on the changeable nature of weight, both (a) decreased blame and via this mechanism, decreased antifat prejudice and (b) increased, or strengthened, the belief in the unchangeable nature of weight and via this mechanism, increased antifat prejudice. We call these opposing effects the stigma asymmetry model. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications of this model.

Contemporary Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Greeting Cards A Reflection of Traditional Ideologies of Motherhood and Fatherhood?

Mother’s and Father’s Day greeting cards were analyzed for (a) ideologies of motherhood and fatherhood in the themes and objects/pictures; (b) color palette, color, and lettering; and (c) the impact of the sender’s gender and relationship to the recipient. The sample consisted of 442 cards on the Hallmark website. Ritualized holidays tend to support the status quo, and traditional ideologies of motherhood and fatherhood, namely a nurturing role for mothers and an instrumental role for fathers, were reflected in the themes and the objects/pictures on the cards. A pastel color palette, pink and purple, and script lettering characterized Mother’s Day cards, whereas a bold color palette, blue, tan, black, brown and red, and whimsical lettering characterized Father’s Day cards. There were variations across the cards that revealed the salience of the sender’s gender and relationship to the recipient. The limitations of this research and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Understanding the prevalence and correlates of implicit theories of weight in the United States: Insights from a nationally representative sample

Objectives: The primary aim of this research is to understand how mindsets about weight controllability in the United States relate to population health. We examined the distribution of people’s implicit theories of weight, from an incremental (controllable) to an entity (not controllable) mindset, in a nationally representative sample, as well as their relation to: sociodemographic factors, beliefs about behaviour and genetics as causes of obesity and engagement in weight management-relevant behaviours. Methods: We report data from the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey 4. Results: A majority of respondents endorsed an incremental mindset of body weight, but endorsement of this mindset was stronger among younger, white respondents, and those with a higher income and more educational attainment. A stronger incremental mindset was related to stronger behaviour and weaker genetic causal beliefs about obesity, as well as a tendency to report increased engagement in weight management-relevant behaviours. Conclusions: Our research provides evidence that although incremental mindsets are more common overall and associated with engagement in health behaviours that can contribute to or detract from population health, incremental mindsets are less common among individuals from more marginalised groups.

Behavioral compensation before and after eating at the Minnesota State Fair

People regulate their eating behavior in many ways. They may respond to overeating by compensating with healthy eating behavior or increased exercise (i.e., a sensible tradeoff), or by continuing to eat poorly (i.e., disinhibition). Conversely, people may respond to a healthy eating event by subsequently eating poorly (i.e., self-licensing) or by continuing to eat healthily (i.e., promotion spillover). We propose that people may also change their behaviors in anticipation of an unhealthy eating event, a phenomenon that we will refer to as pre-compensation. Using a survey of 430 attendees of the Minnesota State Fair over two years, we explored whether, when, and how people compensated before and after this tempting eating event. We found evidence that people use both pre-compensatory and post-compensatory strategies, with a preference for changing their eating (rather than exercise) behavior. There was no evidence that people who pre-compensated were more likely to self-license by indulging in a greater number of foods or calories at the fair than those who did not. Finally, people who pre-compensated were more likely to also post-compensate. These results suggest that changing eating or exercise behavior before exposure to a situation with many tempting foods may be a successful strategy for enjoying oneself without excessively overeating.