Robinson, E. and Kersbergen, I. orcid.org/0000-0002-8799-8963 (2017) Overweight or about right? A norm comparison explanation of perceived weight status. Obesity Science and Practice, 3 (1). pp. 36-43. ISSN 2055-2238
Abstract
Objectives Body‐weight norms may explain why personal evaluations of weight status are often inaccurate. Here, we tested a ‘norm comparison’ explanation of weight status perceptions, whereby personal evaluations of weight status are biased by perceived body‐weight norms.
Methods Study 1 examined whether perceptions of how one's own body weight compares to an average person predict personal evaluations of weight status. Study 2 examined whether manipulating perceptions of how one's own body weight compares to an average person influences whether or not a person identifies their own weight status as being overweight.
Results In Study 1, if participants rated their body weight as being similar to the body weight of an average person, they were less likely to identify their weight status as being overweight. In Study 2, participants that were led to believe that their body weight was heavier than the average person were more likely to perceive their own weight status as being overweight.
Conclusions Personal perceptions of weight status are likely to be shaped by a ‘norm comparison’ process. As overweight becomes more normal, underestimation of weight status amongst individuals with overweight and obesity will be more common.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 The Authors. Obesity Science & Practice published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, World Obesity and The Obesity Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Body image; norms; perceived weight; weight status misperceptions |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Health and Related Research (Sheffield) > ScHARR - Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 25 Feb 2020 13:59 |
Last Modified: | 25 Feb 2020 14:00 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley Open Access |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/osp4.89 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:156037 |
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