SPSP2007 Pryor

They Played a Game: Reactions to Obesity Stigma in a Cyberball Game: 

They Played a Game: Reactions to Obesity Stigma in a Cyberball Game John B. Pryor andamp; Glenn D. Reeder Illinois State University Eric D. Wesselmann, Kipling D. Williams, andamp; James Wirth Purdue University Presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Meetings January 27, 2007, Memphis, TN

What is Cyberball?: 

What is Cyberball? An online game of 'catch' Participants control an animated hand that tosses a ball to 2-3 other players who in turn toss the ball to each other or the participant Other players are actually 'virtual confederates' whose tossing behavior can be programmed

Cyberball Game: 

Cyberball Game Sara Megan Ashley Me

When other players ostracizesomeone, the prevailing normis to try to include that person: 

When other players ostracize someone, the prevailing norm is to try to include that person Sara Megan Ashley Me Megan Megan

Slide5: 

How is adherence to an inclusion norm affected by the presence of a powerful stigma? : 

How is adherence to an inclusion norm affected by the presence of a powerful stigma?

Slide7: 

measure of implicit anti-fat attitudes Play Cyberball 1 obese andamp; 2 non-obese players 3 non-obese players ostracism of non-obese player inclusion of non-obese player ostracism of obese player inclusion of obese player measure of explicit anti-fat attitudes Preview Other Players Assess Anti-fat Attitudes Basic Procedure andamp; Design

Slide8: 

Participants received photos of the other 3 players prior to the Cyberball game. In half the conditions, one of the other players was obese. We altered photos to make the same person appear obese or normal weight. Control Obese Control

Cyberball Game: 

Cyberball Game Sara Megan Ashley

Pictograph Judgments: Implicit Anti-Fat Attitudes (AMP): 

Pictograph Judgments: Implicit Anti-Fat Attitudes (AMP) Before and after photos of 30 women taken from Weight Watchers website 1 second 1 second Judgment of Meaning Judgment of Meaning

Slide11: 

t(95) = 5.68, p andlt; .01

Explicit Attitude Measure: Feeling Thermometer for Obese Women: 

Explicit Attitude Measure: Feeling Thermometer for Obese Women

Hypotheses: 

Hypotheses Adherence to an inclusion norm will be reduced when one of the players is stigmatized Explicit attitudes will be related to more controlled or deliberative biases toward the stigmatized person Implicit attitudes will be related to automatic biases toward the stigmatized person

How many times did the participant toss the ball to the target?: 

How many times did the participant toss the ball to the target? Sara Megan Ashley

Slide15: 

Player X Ostracism: F(2,184) = 9.16, p andlt; .01 Player X Obesity: F(2,184) = 3.19, p andlt; .05

After first receiving the ball, how many turns did the participant delay in tossing the ball to the target?: 

After first receiving the ball, how many turns did the participant delay in tossing the ball to the target? Sara Megan Ashley

Slide17: 

F(1,84) = 6.27, p andlt; .02 (means adjusted for covariates)

Slide18: 

* p andlt;.01 F(1,84) = 5.85, p andlt; .02 *

Did the participant hesitate when deciding to toss the ball to the target?: 

Did the participant hesitate when deciding to toss the ball to the target? Sara Megan Ashley

Slide20: 

(means adjusted for covariates) Ostracism X Obesity X Implicit Bias F(1,84) = 13.21, p andlt; ,01

Slide21: 

* * p andlt;.01 * *

Conclusions: 

Conclusions Inclusion norms are weaker when people interact with a stigmatized person Explicit attitudes moderate the impact of a stigma upon more controlled behaviors Implicit attitudes moderate the impact of a stigma upon more automatic behaviors.