EMPATHY AS A FACTOR ASSOCIATED WITH PREJUDICE TOWARD OBESE PEOPLE. STUDY CONDUCTED ON POLISH STUDENTS POPULATION

Abstract

Stigma and discrimination toward obese persons are pervasive and pose numerous consequences for their psychological and physical health. Psychological effects of discrimination are known to have endur- ing impact on self-esteem, level of depression and severely influence body image satisfaction. The aim of that study was to examine relationship between level of empathy and level of anti-fat biases among young people in their early adulthood.

The study was conducted with undergraduate students of pedagogy of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. The study group consisted of 240 people (Mage = 21.07, SDage = 1.28, range from 19 to 25 years). The applied research tool was the Anti-Fat Attitudes Scale and the Empathic Sensitiveness Scale.

The three empathy dimensions were significantly negatively correlated with anti-fat attitudes, i.e. empathic concern (r = −0.823, p < .001), personal distress (r = −0.833, p < .001), and perspective taking (r = −0.839, p < .001). There were significant effects of level of anti-fat attitudes on empathy scores, i.e. empathy concern F(2,237) = 212.732, p < 0.001, personal distress F(2,237) = 220.535, p < 0.001, and perspective taking F(2,237) = 204.646, p < 0.001.

Level of empathy proved to be significantly negatively correlated with anti-fat attitudes. Results obtained in the present study support the idea of designing and applying educational programs in the field of obesity stigma prevention. It is important to identify the nature of anti-fat biases in order to help to improve the daily functioning and well-being of individuals affected by obesity.