title: Perceived distance and obesity: It's what you weigh, not what you think.
abstract: Action abilities are constrained by physical body size and characteristics, which, according to the action-specific account of perception, should influence perceived space. We examined whether physical body size or beliefs about body size affect distance perception by taking advantage of naturally-occurring dissociations typical in people who are obese but believe themselves to weigh less. Normal weight, overweight, and obese individuals made verbal distance estimates. We also collected measures of beliefs about body size and measures of physical body size. Individuals who weighed more than others estimated distances to be farther. Furthermore, physical body weight influenced perceived distance but beliefs about body size did not. The results illustrate that whereas perception is influenced by physical characteristics, it is not influenced by beliefs. The results also have implications for perception as a contributing factor for lifestyle choices: people who weigh more than others may choose to perform less physically demanding actions not as a result of how they perceive their bodies, but as a result of how they perceive the environment.
authors: Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
authors: Mila
authors: M
authors: Sugovic
authors: Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
authors: Philip
authors: P
authors: Turk
authors: Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA. Electronic address: Jessica.Witt@ColoState.edu.
authors: Jessica K
authors: JK
authors: Witt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D049628:Body Size / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D004215:Distance Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology; D009929:Organ Size; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Action-specific perception; Body size; Distance perception; Effort; Obesity