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Weight and Appearance Bias

Weight and Appearance Bias. Defining Terms (Bell, 2007; Carr-Ruffino, 2006; Center for Disease Control, 2005. Overweight: BMI of 25-29; 20-30 pounds for average woman; 30-40 pounds for average man

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Weight and Appearance Bias

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  1. Weight and Appearance Bias

  2. Defining Terms(Bell, 2007; Carr-Ruffino, 2006; Center for Disease Control, 2005 • Overweight: BMI of 25-29; 20-30 pounds for average woman; 30-40 pounds for average man • Obese: BMI of 30 or more; 20% above recommended weight (more than 35 pounds for women; more than 45 for men • Morbidly Obese: Weigh at least 100 pounds over normal weight range.

  3. Occurrence(cf. review by Bell, M. P. ( 2007) Diversity in Organizations. Mason, Ohio: Thompson Publishing) • Two thirds of the U.S. population is overweight or obese • 30% overweight; 35%obese ; 1% morbidly obese • Represents nearly twice the percentage of those who were overweight two decades ago • Number of overweight and obese youth have doubled in the past 3 decades • 70-80% of overweight adolescents will be overweight adults • People of color, women, older people and the poor more likely to be obese. • 26% of African-Americans; 21% of Latinos; 18% of Whites obese.

  4. Stereotypes(Bell, 2007) • Misperception: Overweight people are overweight because they eat too much and exercise too little • Reality: Size and weight are affected by genetic causes, metabolism, physical disability and viruses • In contrast to other groups (I.e., race/gender), large people are viewed as being responsible for their size) • Leads to feelings of guilt and personal responsibility; large people may not challenge unfair labor practices.

  5. Employment & Earnings (cf: review by Bell, 2007) • Compared to normal weight or thin people, fat people are • More likely to be unemployed and remain unemployed longer • Earn less • Receive lower performance evaluations and are more likely to be disciplined • Less likely to be hired than normal weight people, even when their qualifications are similar

  6. Fat Women Fare Worse than Fat Men(Bell, 2007) • Study of 10,000 random participants found that overweight women had less formal education, higher rates of poverty, and earned $7,000 less a year than slim women (Gortmaker et al, 1993) • Young women who were at least 20% over their “ideal weights” earned 12% less than women at their ideal weight - but no effects found for men(Register & Williams, 1990) • Fat women earned less than thin women - but no differences found for men. Fat women segregated into lower paying occupations but no differences found for fat men (Pagan & Davilia, 1997)

  7. Weight Based Discrimination • Laboratory study using videotapes of professional actors shown to 320 participants (Pingatore et al., 1994) • Simulation: Women 5’6” and either 142 pounds or 170 pounds • Men 5’9” 162 to 194 • Excess weight explained 35% of variance in decisions to hire • Overweight female applicants less likely to be hired than overweight male applicants

  8. Appearance Bias(Hosoda, Stone-Romero & Coats, 2003 meta analyses) • Attractiveness positively related to hiring, performance evaluations and promotion for both men and women. • Highly attractive women may face discrimination • Height matters (Judge & Cable, 2004) • 4 studies with longitudinal data of 8,590 people • Height related to earnings for both men and women • Men received greater returns on height than women (Loh, 1993)

  9. What does the law say? • In most states people can be fired for being overweight. • Morbid obesity may be covered under ADA (but only 1% of overweight are morbidly obese) • Weight discrimination illegal in state of Michigan, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Washington DC and Madison, Wisconsin • Weight viewed as controllable - but some disabilities (cancer due to smoking, paralysis due to reckless driving) could be construed as voluntary - yet disability protected under ADA.

  10. Employer Perspective: Is it the fat, the health or the stigma?(Bell, 2007) • Fat people more likely to miss work; insuring those who are fat is more costly • But same is found for employees with anorexia, bulimia and smokers • People who exercise and eat properly are healthier than slim people who do not exercise or eat well • Employees who gain/lose/gain weight less healthy than those who maintain high weight.

  11. What Employers Should Do(Bell, 2007) • Good for goose- good for gander? Are concerns over costs of weight also reflected in other health issues (smokers)? Reflect concern or stigma? • Add size, weight and appearance to list covered by company’s anti-discrimination policy • Screening employees on the basis of weight is costly & unrealistic; majority of population is overweight • Employers should encourage wellness rather than weight loss - help all employees become healthy • Healthy foods/health club memberships/walk at lunch

  12. More Information • National Association For the Advancement of Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) • http://www.naafa.org/ • Midwest/Chicago Chapter: http://geocities.com/bbw_carolyn/

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