The Weight of Weight Stigma. Negative Stereotypes and Cognitive Performance in Children and Adults with Obesity

Obesity is a highly stigmatizing condition, and lack of intelligence is a stereotypical trait often ascribed to individuals with excess weight. Even though research suggests that obesity reduces cognitive proficiency throughout the life span, in the present work we tested the hypothesis that negative stereotypes about cognitive ability may contribute to disrupt cognitive functioning in children (Study 1) and adults (Study 2) with obesity (vs. average weight). Stereotype salience was manipulated by alternatively labelling a cognitive task as a sensitive intelligence test (stereotype activation) or as a non-evaluative computer game (stereotype deactivation; Study 1 and Study 2). In Study 2, a neutral control condition was also added, in which the task was presented as a memory test, and no bogus information was provided. Furthermore, we hypothesized that anxiety mediates the relation between children’s body weight and working memory under stereotype activation, and that children and adults’ experiences of weight-based discrimination, negative weight-related attitudes, and body dissatisfaction may further moderate the explored relation. Results confirmed the predicted weight status X stereotype salience interaction in Study 1 and Study 2. In both studies, the average-weight participants outperformed those with obesity in working memory tasks only when the tasks were labelled as diagnostic of cognitive proficiency, but not in the deactivation condition. In Study 2 the negative relation between body weight and working memory proficiency also emerged in the neutral condition. Neither moderated mediation or moderated moderation models were supported. These findings provide evidence that stereotype threat contributes to explain working memory deficits associated with obesity, by depleting executive resources in ostensibly evaluative contexts. Interventions aimed at contrasting weight stigma and negative weight-related stereotypes may not only enhance the emotional and social well-being of individuals with excess weight, but also preserve their cognitive efficiency.