Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2016

Keywords

fsc2016

Abstract

We integrated theories of social stigma and rejection sensitivity to develop a new construct for understanding the effects of day-to-day experiences of interpersonal weight stigma: weight-based rejection sensitivity (W-RS), or a tendency to anxiously expect weight-based rejection. We created a new scale to measure W-RS. Studies 1 and 2 together established the scale as valid and reliable in a college student population. Study 3 examined the outcomes and predictive validity of W-RS by testing the effects of W-RS longitudinally across college students’ first semester. Those who were high in W-RS were found to be at additional risk for compromised psychological and physical well-being over time. W-RS also predicted poorer adjustment to college. Overall, W-RS could help to explain individual reactions to stigma and to predict when weight stigmatization may have a greater likelihood of impacting a target.

DOI

10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.11.005

Comments

The final published version of this article is available through the publisher: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2015.11.005.

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Psychology Commons

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