Reliable Knowledge about Obesity Risk, Rather Than Personality, Is Associated with Positive Beliefs towards Obese People: Investigating Attitudes and Beliefs about Obesity, and Validating the Polish Versions of ATOP, BAOP and ORK–10 Scales

Wojciech Styk (), Ewa Wojtowicz and Szymon Zmorzynski
Additional contact information
Wojciech Styk: Department of Psychology, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland
Ewa Wojtowicz: Department of Psychology, Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology, Warsaw Management University, 03-772 Warszawa, Poland
Szymon Zmorzynski: Department of Cancer Genetics with Cytogenetic Laboratory, Medical University of Lublin, 20-059 Lublin, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 22, 1-15

Abstract: Obesity has reached epidemic proportions. With the increase in the number of obese people, we have also witnessed a rise in the stigmatisation of this population. The aim of our study was to: (I) validate Polish versions of the attitude toward obese people (ATOP) scale, the beliefs about obese persons (BAOP) scale, and translate the obesity risk knowledge scale (ORK–10); (II) analyse the relationship between personality and the knowledge about obesity, as well as attitudes and beliefs towards obese people. Methods: The translation procedure was based on the principles of intercultural validation scales. The study was conducted on a group of 306 individuals, including 189 females and 117 males. Results: The original three-factor structure of the ATOP scale was confirmed in the Polish version. Factor analysis confirmed the one-factor structure of the BAOP scale in the Polish version. A very strong correlation was found between ATOP/BAOP and ORK–10. The correlation of personality with ATOP/BAOP scales was at a low level. Regression analysis indicated that knowledge of obesity risk predicted ATOP and BAOP by more than 58% and 50%, in turn, personality only 20% and 3.7%, respectively. Conclusion: The polish versions of ATOP, BAOP and ORK–10 scales are fully useful measurement tools. The knowledge about obesity risk is associated with beliefs and attitudes about obese people.

Keywords: ATOP; BAOP; ORK–10; overweight; obesity; BMI; stereotypes; personality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14977/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/22/14977/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:22:p:14977-:d:972021

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().