Department

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

This study investigates weight stereotypes on promotion decisions. Previous research has focused on obesity stereotypes in the workplace regarding weight discrimination, when comparing average weight individuals to overweight and/or obese individuals. However, research has not investigated weight discrimination in the workplace setting for very thin individuals as compared to overweight individuals. Additionally, very little research has been conducted regarding weight discrimination on promotion decision-making. Based on previous research, this study hypothesizes: (1) Overweight promotional candidates will be discriminated against at a higher rate than thin promotional candidates; (2) Based on the similarity-attraction theory, thin individuals will be more likely to recommend thin promotional candidates; (3) Overweight individuals will be more likely to recommend thin promotional candidates seeing as research suggests that overweight individuals hold a lesser anti-fat bias, but do not possess a pro-fat bias; (4) Thin male candidates will be recommended for promotion at a lower rate than thin female candidates since research suggests that more muscle mass is attractive for men and will therefore be more subject to thin stereotypes.

Date

October 2017

Subject

Industrial and organizational psychology

Document Type

posters

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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Oct 28th, 10:00 AM Oct 28th, 10:55 AM

Promotion Recommendations of All Sizes

This study investigates weight stereotypes on promotion decisions. Previous research has focused on obesity stereotypes in the workplace regarding weight discrimination, when comparing average weight individuals to overweight and/or obese individuals. However, research has not investigated weight discrimination in the workplace setting for very thin individuals as compared to overweight individuals. Additionally, very little research has been conducted regarding weight discrimination on promotion decision-making. Based on previous research, this study hypothesizes: (1) Overweight promotional candidates will be discriminated against at a higher rate than thin promotional candidates; (2) Based on the similarity-attraction theory, thin individuals will be more likely to recommend thin promotional candidates; (3) Overweight individuals will be more likely to recommend thin promotional candidates seeing as research suggests that overweight individuals hold a lesser anti-fat bias, but do not possess a pro-fat bias; (4) Thin male candidates will be recommended for promotion at a lower rate than thin female candidates since research suggests that more muscle mass is attractive for men and will therefore be more subject to thin stereotypes.