Patients with obesity show reduced memory for others' body shape.
Social comparison theory assumes that individuals regularly compare themselves to others and that the comparisons are relevant for their self-esteem. For individuals with obesity, these social comparisons will yield a negative outcome with respect to body shape in the majority of social contacts. It is proposed that, when confronted with other persons, individuals with obesity avoid social comparisons on the dimension of body shape. Using a multinomial account of social categorization, 19 female psychotherapy patients with morbid obesity were compared to 19 non-obese female psychotherapy patients. As predicted, results reveal reduced memory for body shape categories in patients with obesity, indicating a reduced processing of body shape information.
Wegener
Ingo
I
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany. i.wegener@gmx.de
De Beer
Kathrin
K
Schilling
Guntram
G
Conrad
Rupert
R
Imbierowicz
Katrin
K
Geiser
Franziska
F
Wermter
Florentine
F
Rüddel
Heinz
H
Liedtke
Reinhard
R
D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D049628:Body Size; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability; D013851:Thinness / Q000523:psychology*