Fat people’s expectations of prejudice: predictors of anticipated prejudice from various groups

Fat people experience and anticipate significant prejudice on the basis of their body size. Like experiencing prejudice, anticipating prejudice is associated with a host of negative health outcomes. In the current study, in a sample of 193 fat participants, we examined and compared fat people’s expectations of stigma from members of four different groups: people in general, medical professionals, thin people, and fat people. We also examined predictors of anticipated prejudice from each of these four groups. We found that fat people anticipated the most prejudice from thin people, followed by people in general and then medical professionals. The least prejudice was anticipated from other fat people. Prejudice experiences significantly predicted heightened anticipated prejudice from medical professionals and people in general, and both suspicion of inclusion and being a woman or gender minority significantly predicted anticipated prejudice from medical professionals, people in general, and thin people. Participant race, sexual orientation, and body size, as well as their interactions with prejudice experiences, generally did not predict anticipated prejudice from any group. Findings indicate the pervasiveness of prejudice that fat people experience across social interactions with varying groups, suggesting a need for heightened attention to experiences of anticipated prejudice – and characteristics that predict anticipated prejudice, such as suspicion of inclusion – among fat people. Findings are also indicative of a need for renewed focus on thin-fat intergroup relations with an eye toward reducing social and health disparities among fat people.