Changes in weight bias and perceived employability following weight loss and gain.

Background: The present weight stigma study examined whether attitudes toward and employability of a normal weight person can change after learning that the person had been obese.

Methods: Participants (N = 154) viewed an image of a normal weight woman and rated their impression of her. Next, participants rated their impression of her overweight image after learning how she had previously gained and subsequently lost weight.

Results: Participants rated the model far less favorably including perceived employability if they thought the once overweight model lost weight through surgery vs. diet and exercise. How the model initially gained the weight had little impact on participant ratings.

Conclusions: Surgical weight loss had a significant impact on personality judgments. These negative views extended to hiring decisions.