Lauren Breithaupt1,2, Paige Trojanowski3, Sarah Fischer3. 1. Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 2. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 3. Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Research has demonstrated that explicit anti-fat attitudes decrease immediately following a brief cognitive dissonance-based intervention targeting weight stigma. The current study explores changes in explicit and implicit anti-fat attitudes immediately following a cognitive dissonance-based weight stigma intervention and 1 week after. METHODS:College students (N = 156) were randomly assigned to a control or dissonance weight stigma intervention. Weight stigma attitudes were assessed at three time points, and participants completed a measure of values at baseline. Participants in the dissonance condition were told that they had anti-fat attitudes that were inconsistent with their values, whereas participants in the control group were told that their attitudes aligned with their values. All participants reviewed feedback at a follow-up visit before completing explicit and implicit weight stigma assessments a final time. RESULTS: Individuals in the dissonance condition reported statistically significant decreases in explicit attitudes from Visit 1 to Visit 3. In contrast, there was not a significant condition by time interaction on implicit attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides support for cognitive dissonance-based interventions to reduce explicit, but not implicit, anti-fat attitudes following repeated exposure to dissonance induction.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: Research has demonstrated that explicit anti-fat attitudes decrease immediately following a brief cognitive dissonance-based intervention targeting weight stigma. The current study explores changes in explicit and implicit anti-fat attitudes immediately following a cognitive dissonance-based weight stigma intervention and 1 week after. METHODS: College students (N = 156) were randomly assigned to a control or dissonance weight stigma intervention. Weight stigma attitudes were assessed at three time points, and participants completed a measure of values at baseline. Participants in the dissonance condition were told that they had anti-fat attitudes that were inconsistent with their values, whereas participants in the control group were told that their attitudes aligned with their values. All participants reviewed feedback at a follow-up visit before completing explicit and implicit weight stigma assessments a final time. RESULTS: Individuals in the dissonance condition reported statistically significant decreases in explicit attitudes from Visit 1 to Visit 3. In contrast, there was not a significant condition by time interaction on implicit attitudes. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides support for cognitive dissonance-based interventions to reduce explicit, but not implicit, anti-fat attitudes following repeated exposure to dissonance induction.