Title

How did you get so thin? The effect of attribution on perceptions of underweight females

Authors

Authors

S. Tantleff-Dunn; S. Hayes;C. P. Braun

Comments

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Abstract

This study applied attribution theory to determine how responsible women arc viewed as being for their weight and to gain a better understanding of how underweight females are perceived. Additionally, the impact of having been teased for being underweight on perceptions and responsibility ratings was explored. Participants (515 undergraduates: 285 women anc 230 men) were shown a photograph of an objectively underweight woman in one of three randomly assigned conditions: thinness attributed to an eating disorder, illness, or heredity. Ar underweight female was penceived as most responsible for her weight and ascribed more negative characteristics when she was described as having an eating disorder than when her weight was attributed to heredity or illness. Weight-related teasing histories were unrelated to perceptions of underweight women. However, underweight women may be at risk for being stereotyped (e.g., depressed, undereating) even when it is known that their weight is related to heredity.

Journal Title

Eating and Weight Disorders-Studies on Anorexia Bulimia and Obesity

Volume

14

Issue/Number

1

Publication Date

1-1-2009

Document Type

Article

First Page

38

Last Page

44

WOS Identifier

WOS:000265036400005

ISSN

1124-4909

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