Weight and Appearance Bias

Defining Terms (Bell, 2007; Carr-Ruffino, 2006; Center for Disease Control, 2005 Overweight: BMI of 25-29; 20-30 pounds for average woman; 30-40 pounds for average man Obese: BMI of 30 or more; 20% above recommended weight (more than 35 pounds for women; more than 45 for men Morbidly Obese: Weigh at least 100 pounds over normal weight range.

Occurrence (cf. review by Bell, M. P Occurrence (cf. review by Bell, M. P. ( 2007) Diversity in Organizations. Mason, Ohio: Thompson Publishing) Two thirds of the U.S. population is overweight or obese 30% overweight; 35%obese ; 1% morbidly obese Represents nearly twice the percentage of those who were overweight two decades ago Number of overweight and obese youth have doubled in the past 3 decades 70-80% of overweight adolescents will be overweight adults People of color, women, older people and the poor more likely to be obese. 26% of African-Americans; 21% of Latinos; 18% of Whites obese.

Stereotypes (Bell, 2007) Misperception: Overweight people are overweight because they eat too much and exercise too little Reality: Size and weight are affected by genetic causes, metabolism, physical disability and viruses In contrast to other groups (I.e., race/gender), large people are viewed as being responsible for their size) Leads to feelings of guilt and personal responsibility; large people may not challenge unfair labor practices.

Employment & Earnings (cf: review by Bell, 2007) Compared to normal weight or thin people, fat people are More likely to be unemployed and remain unemployed longer Earn less Receive lower performance evaluations and are more likely to be disciplined Less likely to be hired than normal weight people, even when their qualifications are similar

Fat Women Fare Worse than Fat Men (Bell, 2007) Study of 10,000 random participants found that overweight women had less formal education, higher rates of poverty, and earned $7,000 less a year than slim women (Gortmaker et al, 1993) Young women who were at least 20% over their “ideal weights” earned 12% less than women at their ideal weight - but no effects found for men(Register & Williams, 1990) Fat women earned less than thin women - but no differences found for men. Fat women segregated into lower paying occupations but no differences found for fat men (Pagan & Davilia, 1997)

Weight Based Discrimination Laboratory study using videotapes of professional actors shown to 320 participants (Pingatore et al., 1994) Simulation: Women 5’6” and either 142 pounds or 170 pounds Men 5’9” 162 to 194 Excess weight explained 35% of variance in decisions to hire Overweight female applicants less likely to be hired than overweight male applicants

Appearance Bias (Hosoda, Stone-Romero & Coats, 2003 meta analyses) Attractiveness positively related to hiring, performance evaluations and promotion for both men and women. Highly attractive women may face discrimination Height matters (Judge & Cable, 2004) 4 studies with longitudinal data of 8,590 people Height related to earnings for both men and women Men received greater returns on height than women (Loh, 1993)

What does the law say? In most states people can be fired for being overweight. Morbid obesity may be covered under ADA (but only 1% of overweight are morbidly obese) Weight discrimination illegal in state of Michigan, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Washington DC and Madison, Wisconsin Weight viewed as controllable - but some disabilities (cancer due to smoking, paralysis due to reckless driving) could be construed as voluntary - yet disability protected under ADA.

Employer Perspective: Is it the fat, the health or the stigma Employer Perspective: Is it the fat, the health or the stigma? (Bell, 2007) Fat people more likely to miss work; insuring those who are fat is more costly But same is found for employees with anorexia, bulimia and smokers People who exercise and eat properly are healthier than slim people who do not exercise or eat well Employees who gain/lose/gain weight less healthy than those who maintain high weight.

What Employers Should Do (Bell, 2007) Good for goose- good for gander? Are concerns over costs of weight also reflected in other health issues (smokers)? Reflect concern or stigma? Add size, weight and appearance to list covered by company’s anti-discrimination policy Screening employees on the basis of weight is costly & unrealistic; majority of population is overweight Employers should encourage wellness rather than weight loss - help all employees become healthy Healthy foods/health club memberships/walk at lunch

More Information National Association For the Advancement of Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) http://www.naafa.org/ Midwest/Chicago Chapter: http://geocities.com/bbw_carolyn/