Implicit and Explicit Anti-Fat Attitude Change Following Brief Cognitive Dissonance Intervention for Weight Stigma

Reducing anti-fat bias toward the self and others: a randomized controlled trial

Despite strong evidence linking anti-fat bias directed toward others with markers of self-directed anti-fat bias, there is a dearth of theory-based research examining the cognitive pathways underlying this relationship, and existing bias-reduction intervention efforts have thus far been conducted with exclusive focus on one domain or the other. Cognitive dissonance (CD)-based interventions have been identified as viable for reducing anti-fat bias directed toward the self and others. However, no study has yet examined whether the effects of these domain-specific interventions (e.g., anti-fat bias towards the self) extend to anti-fat bias in the non-targeted domain (e.g., anti-fat bias towards others). The present study aimed to address these gaps in the literature by comparing effects of brief CD-based interventions targeting anti-fat bias directed toward either the self or others on measures of anti-fat bias. Participants (N = 197, female-identifying undergraduates) were randomized to a writing activity prompting cognitive dissonance about either self-directed or other-directed anti-fat bias, or a bias-consistent control condition. Results indicated that participants in the CD intervention conditions showed significantly greater reductions in both explicit self- and other-directed anti-fat biases than those in the control condition, but results did not significantly differ across CD conditions. This supports the potential utility of interventions simultaneously targeting anti-fat bias in both domains and provides insight into the cognitive pathways underlying these related forms of bias.

Integrating cognitive dissonance and social consensus to reduce weight stigma

Weight stigma is pervasive and has a range of deleterious effects. Among the most promising approaches for modifying this form of stigma are cognitive dissonance and social consensus. Due to their theoretical connection, this study tested the effects of an experimental manipulation of cognitive dissonance blended with social consensus for targeting weight stigma. It also added to research investigating the effects of cognitive dissonance on weight stigma by investigating a broader range of stigma measures. Participants were university students aged 18-35 years (N = 98) who were randomly allocated to one of four experimental conditions: blended cognitive dissonance, standard cognitive dissonance, blended control or standard control. Stigma measures included the perceived characteristics of, affective reactions towards, social avoidance of, and blameworthiness attributed to a higher-weight individual, and general weight stigma. Results showed that those in the cognitive dissonance conditions reported significantly lower weight stigma than those in the non-dissonance, control conditions. Moreover, those in the blended cognitive dissonance condition with higher in-group identification reported less negative affective reactions than those with lower in-group identification. The results provide consistent support for cognitive dissonance as an approach for reducing weight stigma and some additive support for an integrated cognitive dissonance and social consensus approach.