Children’s Attitudes and Stereotype Content Toward Thin, Average-Weight, and Overweight Peers

Federica Durante, Mirco Fasolo, Silvia Mari and Andrea F. Mazzola

SAGE Open, 2014, vol. 4, issue 2, 2158244014534697

Abstract: Six- to 11-year-old children’s attitudes toward thin, average-weight, and overweight targets were investigated with associated warmth and competence stereotypes. The results showed positive attitudes toward average-weight targets and negative attitudes toward overweight peers: Both attitudes decreased as a function of children’s age. Thin targets were perceived more positively than overweight ones but less positively than average-weight targets. Notably, social desirability concerns predicted the decline of anti-fat bias in older children. Finally, the results showed ambivalent stereotypes toward thin and overweight targets—particularly among older children—mirroring the stereotypes observed in adults. This result suggests that by the end of elementary school, children manage the two fundamental dimensions of social judgment similar to adults.

Keywords: body size; children; attitudes; stereotype; warmth; competence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:4:y:2014:i:2:p:2158244014534697

DOI: 10.1177/2158244014534697

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