Weight IAT

Abstract

The perception about weight in different cultures varies with the appreciation of skinny body types in western cultures. In contrast, in the Sub-Saharan region, people considered obese in the western culture are perceived as wealthy or successful. This research employed an IAT test to examine the attitudes or beliefs about this weight to determine if they had implicit biases towards individuals with different body types. The null hypothesis is there is no significant implicit stigma towards different body types in ethnic communities compared to contemporary western communities in the Sub-Sahara. A Chi-Square test was conducted to assess if significant implicit stigma towards different body types in ethnic in the Sub-Sahara region communities compared to contemporary western culture. The alternate hypothesis that there is a significant implicit stigma towards different body types in ethnic communities compared to contemporary western communities in the Sub-Sahara region is accepted.

Introduction

An individuals attitude is determined by their culture and environment and influences their perspectives consciously or unconsciously. The perception about weight in different cultures varies with the appreciation of skinny body types in western cultures. In contrast, in the Sub-Saharan region, people considered obese in Western culture are perceived as wealthy or successful. Consequently, there is an implicit bias towards people who are overweight in the western culture while in the Sub-Saharan region are admired since it is perceived as a sign of wealth (Stanifer et al., 2016). However, the percolation of the western culture internationally has led to the growth of preference of skinny body types more compared to people who are considered overweight in some of the cultures that held a similar belief as in the Sub-Saharan region across the globe (World Health Organization, 2021). Therefore, this research will employ the Implicit Bias Test (IBT) to explore the implicit bias towards people who are overweight or skinny towards people from different societies and the contemporary preference of body types prevalent in their ethnic communities.

Literature Review

Wight bias is defined as negative attitudes towards, and beliefs about, others because of their weight (World Health Organization, 2021). The negative attitude manifests in different ways that have physiological and psychological adversaries among the stigmatized individuals, such as developing poor dietary habits or body dyslexia, respectively. Social stigma is a phenomenon where people who display certain undesirable characteristics in a community are perceived distinctively in a us and them manner. Such bias may be manifested explicitly or implicitly (Beames et al., 2016). Traditionally, in the western culture, women sort thin body types, while men sort muscular and toned body types. These maxims were perceived, in part, as standards of beauty or as indicators of an individuals state of health.

The increase in information access has led to the access of credible information about what health and a healthy lifestyle are, resulting in the espousal of healthy practices into the lifestyles of individuals across the globe. Access to this information has an aggregate negative impact in communities where skinny body types are preferred results in more stigmatization of individuals who are perceived to be overweight. According to Beames et al. (2016), the levels of stigmatization after the access to information regarding leading a healthy lifestyle result in a difference in the attitudes expressed towards individuals who get obese and lost weight compared to individuals who were never obese did not lose weight. In this study, the researchers speculated that participants had a greater dislike for individuals who had gotten obese and lost than those who had lost weight and were never obese (World Health Organization, 2021). The study examined target individuals who were obese...

…would be accepted if where the p-value is less than 0.05. and rejected where the p-values are rather than 0.05. since the p-value is 0.02997, which is less than 0.05, the null hypothesis is rejected.

Discussion

The null hypothesis posits no significant implicit stigma towards different body types in ethnic communities compared to contemporary western communities in the Sub-Sahara region. The results rejected the alternative hypothesis that there is a significant and implicit stigma towards different body types in ethnic communities compared to contemporary western communities in the Sub-Sahara region. However, the implicit bias is towards people who are overweight in the western culture, while in the Sub-Saharan region, they are admired since it is perceived as a sign of wealth. The alternate hypothesis that there is a significant implicit stigma towards different body types in ethnic communities compared to contemporary western communities in the Sub-Sahara region is accepted. Therefore, despite the lack of bias towards what is perceived as overweight bodies in the west, bias is still prevalent toward skinny body types.

The prevalence of bias towards different body times is predetermined by social norms in a persons culture that affects the individuals within. There is a significantly comparable bias towards culturally non-preferential body types in the Sub-Sahara compared to America. In the ethnic communities in the Sub-Sahara, individuals are stigmatized due to low weight since it is perceived as an indicator and individual is not wealthy. Conversely, in America, overweight individuals are stigmatized since they have the resources and ability to avoid developing or controlling obesity and fail to apply the necessary effort to lead a healthy lifestyle. However, applying the AIT test approach to determine if the participants were implicitly biased might result in explicit bias increasing the noise in the results. Future research should explore different approaches to understanding the…