Weight Discrimination and Poor Cardiovascular Health

"In the experimental condition, participants will learn that their group members are biased against overweight people but not elderly or racial/ethnic minority individuals, as indicated by the getting to know you summary ratings handout. Participants will also receive negative feedback about their personal attributes by being labeled with negative weight-based stereotypes. Although some ratings will be positive (e.g., they will receive high ratings on being friendly and kind), participants will be rated poorly on attributes viewed as necessary to develop a strong marketing campaign (i.e., motivation to work hard, possessing self-discipline to persist at the task, and competence). After (ostensibly) assembling the group's preferences, the experimenter will inform participants that no one selected them to be their partner, thus they will perform the next few tasks alone. This manipulation has been shown to prompt feelings of social exclusion."

"In the control condition, participants will learn that their group members have positive attitudes toward people with higher body weight, as well as elderly and racial/ethnic minority individuals, as indicated by the getting to know you summary ratings handout. Participants will also receive positive feedback about their personal attributes, as indicated by the summary ratings averaged across the three members. Finally, participants in the control condition will be told that one of their group members had to leave unexpectedly for a family emergency, so pairs cannot be assembled as usual, thus they will perform the next few tasks alone. This manipulation should not prompt feelings of social exclusion."