Appearance Discrimination Resources
Print Resources
Bell, M.P. & McLaughlin, M.E. (2006). Outcomes of appearance and obesity in organizations. In J.K. Pringle, A.M. Konrad, & P. Prasad (Eds.), Handbook on workplace diversity. (pp. 455-474). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
This chapter reviews literature about the relationship between appearance and treatment in companies and organizations. The implications for selection, placement, and earnings are discussed. Specific attention is given to weight and its effect on employment. The chapter ends with suggestions to researchers and practitioners interested in this topic.
Brochu, P.M. & Morrison, M.A. (2007). Implicit and explicit prejudice toward overweight and average-weight men and women: Testing their correspondence and relation to behavioral intentions. Journal of Social Psychology, 147(6), 681-706.
This study examines prejudices toward persons who are overweight. Results found both implicit as well as explicit prejudices were present, with males displaying higher levels of prejudice than females. The study also found that overweight men and women received more criticism than average-weight men and women. The limitations of the study and the directions for future research were also discussed.
Brownell, K.D., Puhl, R. M., Schwartz, M. B., & Rudd, L. (Eds.) (2005). Weight bias: Nature, consequences, and remedies. New York: Guilford.
This edited volume contains 22 chapters that explore prejudice and discrimination based on weight, with sections on the nature and extent of weight bias, explanations for this bias, consequences of weigh bias, and remedies for weight discrimination, including public policy and advocacy.
Corrigan, P. W. (2004). How stigma interferes with mental health care. American Psychologist, 59, 614-625.
This article addresses the negative consequences of the mental health stigma, including its effect on people’s willingness to seek treatment and on the self-esteem of persons with mental illness.
Crandall, C. S. (1994). Prejudice against fat people: Ideology and self-interest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 882-894.
This article includes the anti-fat attitudes questionnaire and explores how symbolic attitudes can be used to explain anti-fat attitudes. The article also addresses the similarities between racism and anti-fat prejudice.
Chin, J.L. (Ed.). (2005). The psychology of prejudice and discrimination: Disability, religion, physique, and other traits, (Vol. 4). Westport, CT, US: Praeger Publishers/Greenwood Publishing Group.
This volume is one in a four volume series that focuses on prejudice and discrimination in today’s world. The authors provide fresh perspectives on issues that have been around for ages. Each chapter also includes a “toolbox” at the end that provides specific suggestions for fighting prejudice and discrimination. This particular volume pays special attention to discrimination of religion, disabilities, and appearance.
Crandall, C.S. & Martinez, R. (1996). Culture, ideology, and antifat attitudes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(11), 1165-1176.
This study examined antifat attitudes among college students in the United States and Mexico. Results found that Mexican students worried less about their weight and were generally more accepting of overweight people than the students from the US. The authors found that these attitudes toward people who were overweight could be linked to social ideologies of control. The US ideology says that people have control over the events in their lives and this contributed to the US antifat attitudes. These controllability ideologies were seen as less important for the Mexican students and did not play a role in their attitudes towards overweight people.
Etcoff, N. (1999). Survival of the prettiest: The science of beauty. New York: Doubleday.
In this highly readable book, Etcoff summarizes the social science literature on how physical appearance influences people’s perceptions about and reactions to others. The author includes many references to current popular culture that complement her strong emphasize on the results of scientific research.
Fine, M., & Asch, A. (1993). Disability beyond stigma: Social interaction, discrimination, and activism. In M. Nagler (Ed.), Perspectives on disability (2nd ed., pp. 49-62). Palo Alto, CA: Health Markets Research.
This article addresses researchers’ assumptions about the nature of disability, most of which can be readily applied to other contexts, such as the classroom.
Gouvier, W. D. & Coon, R. C. (2002). Misconceptions, discrimination, and disabling language: Synthesis and review. Applied Neuropsychology, 9, 48-57.
The authors provide an accessible review of research demonstrating discrimination against PWDs and offer strategies for overcoming its effects.
Hall, C.C.L. (1995). Beauty is in the soul of the beholder: Psychological implications of beauty and African American women. Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 1(2), 125-137.
The author looked at the US criteria for beauty which is typically based upon White, middle- class standards, and their impact on African American women. Throughout history, African American women’s body images, which often do not fit the mold of the white standards of beauty, have been portrayed negatively in the United States. The author stresses the importance for mental health professionals to understand how the negative impact these portrayals may have on the body image and self-esteem of African American women. Specific suggestions for therapy as well as community intervention are discussed.
Hassel, T.D., Amici, C.J., Thurston, N.S., &Gorsuch, R.L. (2001). Client weight as a barrier to non-biased clinical judgment. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 20(2), 145-161.
This study examined Christian and Non-Christian mental health professionals’ attitudes toward overweight clients. Results found that mental health professionals had a tendency to attribute more pathologies and negative characteristics to overweight clients than to average-weight clients. There was no difference found in the mental health professionals’ attitudes if they were Christian or Non-Christian. Strategies for helping to remove biases from psychotherapy are discussed from a Christian perspective.
Hebl, M. R., & Kleck, R. E. (2000). The social consequences of physical disability. In T. F. Heatherton, R. E. Kleck, M. R. Hebl & J. G. Hull (Eds.), The social psychology of stigma (pp. 419-435). New York: Guilford.
The authors address the stigma of physical disability, including both overt and more subtle responses of the nondisabled. The chapter provides an excellent review of the social psychological literature on this topic.
Karris, L. (1977). Prejudice against obese renters. Journal of Social Psychology, 101(1), 159-160.
This study tested the prejudice of landlords toward overweight prospective tenants. Results found that almost half of the landlords would not rent to the obese prospective tenants, but all would rent to the average weight prospective tenants. The landlords who refused to rent used tactics such as raising the rent or saying the property was “practically rented already.” These results suggest discrimination toward obese prospective tenants.
Katz, S. (2003). Physical appearance: The importance of being beautiful. In J.M. Henslin (Ed.), Down to Earth Sociology: Introductory Readings (12th Ed.). New York, NY, US: Free Press.
The author examines social stratification based upon levels of attractiveness. People both judge and are judged by people as a result of appearances, and this creates a social hierarchy. The halo/horns effects, viewing someone attractive as having particularly good traits and someone unattractive as having particularly bad traits, respectively, are described and demonstrated. Implications of this social stratification are discussed for various stages throughout the lifespan.
King, E.B., Shapiro, J.R., Hebl, M.R., Singletary, S.L., & Turner, S. (2006). The stigma of obesity in customer service: A mechanism for remediation and bottom-line consequences of interpersonal discrimination. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(3), 579-593.
These studies attempted to extend the justification-suppression model (JSM) of prejudice to include present-day subtle forms of discrimination in customer service situations. Results showed that overweight shoppers were the targets of more discrimination than average weight shoppers. The three studies together showed that JSM can include subtle forms of discrimination, demonstrated the importance of studying covert discrimination, and provided suggestions for reducing subtle discriminatory attitudes and behaviors.
Mok, T.A. (1998). Asian Americans and standards of attractiveness: What’s in the eye of the beholder? Cultural Diversity and Mental Health, 4(1), 1-18.
This article examines the standards of beauty found in the US and the effects of the primarily White standards on Asian Americans. Emphasis is placed on acculturation and ethnic identity as factors that may affect reactions to these standards of beauty. The authors discuss the little research done on this topic and provide directions and suggestions for further study.
Nothwehr, F. (2004). Attitudes and behaviors related to weight control in two diverse populations. Preventative Medicine: An International Journal Devoted to Practice and Theory, 39(4), 674-680.
Previous research has shown that African-American women are concerned about their weight, but often have a more difficult time losing weight than Caucasian women. This report uses survey research to examine the differences between urban African-American and rural Caucasian women’s attitudes toward weight and effectiveness in weight loss attempts. Results showed that rural women had more social support, higher levels of self-efficacy, and higher expectations to succeed. This study helped to better understand differences between African-American and Caucasian women, although much more research needs to be done in this area.
Poran, M.A. (2002). Denying diversity: Perceptions of beauty and social comparison processes among Latina, Black, and White women. Sex Roles, 47(1-2), 65-81.
This study examines different cultural values of beauty for Latina, Black, and White women as well as the comparisons, such as denial of personal disadvantages, that each group engaged in. Results showed that there were differences between the groups’ images of their bodies and their relationships with cultural standards of beauty. The study also found differences in the groups’ tendencies to deny personal disadvantages. This study adds to the body of knowledge about how beauty and racial identity interact for the groups of women involved in the study.
Roehling, M.V., Roehling, P.V., & Pichler, S. (2007). The relationship between body weight and perceived weight-related employment discrimination: The role of sex and race. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 71(2), 300-318.
The authors used survey data to find evidence for weight discrimination in the workplace. Results showed that overweight respondents and women were more likely than normal to sense work related discrimination and report weight as the reason for it. Implications are discussed for a number of different audiences, including companies and organizations, law makers, employees who consider themselves overweight, and career counselors.
Schneider, D. J. (2004). The psychology of stereotyping. New York: Guilford.
The author provides comprehensive reviews of appearance-related stereotypes, including facial cues, body type, height, and weight. He also reviews the research on the stigma of mental illness.
Schwartz, J.M. & Abramowtiz, S.I. (1978). Effects of female client physical attractiveness on clinical judgment. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, & Practice, 15(3), 251-257.
This study examined the effects of women clients’ physical attractiveness on male therapists’ clinical judgments. Results did not find a large pattern of prejudice toward the less attractive women. They did find that therapists rated less attractive women as more likely to end therapy early and received less relationship building responses than the attractive women. The hypothesis that attractiveness would create more negative effects for severe presenting problems was not supported however.
Yoo, J.J. & Johnson, K.P. (2007). Effects of appearance-related testing on ethnically diverse adolescent girls. Adolescence, 46(166), 353-380.
This study investigated whether White and African American adolescents responded differently to experiences of teasing depending upon the content of the tease or ethnicity. Results showed that all adolescents found teasing negative, although African Americans indicated that there are times when it could be positive. Participants noted that after an experience of teasing they made attempts to modify their appearance.
Web Resources
The American Obesity Association on Discrimination http://obesity1.tempdomainname.com/discrimination/employment.shtml
This is a section of the official website for the American Obesity Association specifically related to discrimination. Here you will find information on discrimination related to employment and compensation. The legal issues and pertinent anti-discrimination laws are discussed as well.
The Council on Size and Weight Discrimination
http://www.cswd.org/index.html This is the official website for the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination. Here you will find a host of resources about issues of weight, including information, statistics, resources on discrimination, health related issues, and links to other information available online.
The San Francisco Human Rights Commission’s Compliance Guidelines to Prohibit Weight and Height Discrimination
http://www.sfgov.org/site/sfhumanrights_page.asp?id=5911
This is the San Francisco Human Rights commission’s Compliance Guidelines to Prohibit Weight and Height Discrimination. It is a good example of the steps one city has taken to ensure that people who do not fit the mold of “average” body type will not be discriminated against. It attempts to define height, weight, and reasonable accommodations. It then gives specifics for housing and employment.