Anti-fat Prejudice and Stereotypes in Psychology University Students

摘要

The purpose of this study was to explore the anti-fat attitudes and stereotyped beliefs toward fat people in a group of 104 psychology university students. We used the Anti-fat Attitudes Scale and the Dislike of Fat People Scale, Semantic Differential Technique for analyzing the representation of Fat People, Thin People, and Self-Concept, and Fat Stereotypes Questionnaire with positive and negative traits about female fat people. Results showed that psychology university students expressed low levels of anti-fat attitudes and of dislike of fat people. Over 70% of respondents attributed to the female fat people mainly positive traits linked to happiness, sweetness, kindness, and generosity. Psychology university students judged fat people similar to thin people. A positive representation of fat people was associated with low levels of anti-fat prejudice and positive stereotyped beliefs toward female fat people. Future research could verify the persistence of these positive attitudes toward fat people in Italian context with other types of participants.