Obesity and gender as status beliefs

For over 30 years, researchers have examined social influence using status characteristics theory (Berger and Conner, 1974). While research has investigated beauty and attractiveness as status characteristics (e.g., Webster and Driskell, 1983), there is a dearth of research that examines whether obe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science research 2018-03, Vol.71, p.11-18
Main Authors: Gordon, Heather L., Walker, Lisa Slattery, Gur, Shahar, Olien, Jessie L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Gender
Influence
Obesity
Status
Status beliefs
Status value
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Summary:For over 30 years, researchers have examined social influence using status characteristics theory (Berger and Conner, 1974). While research has investigated beauty and attractiveness as status characteristics (e.g., Webster and Driskell, 1983), there is a dearth of research that examines whether obesity has status value using status characteristics theory. The current paper reviews the literature on, demonstrating how they are related to status characteristics. Next, this paper demonstrates how the effects of both gender and obesity can be explained by considering them as status characteristics, which have the potential to create subsequent status beliefs and stigma. Finally, this study reports empirical findings that support obesity as a status characteristic. We find an effect for obesity on ratings of diffuse status, and effects for both obesity and gender on ratings of influence.
ISSN:0049-089X
1096-0317
DOI:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.12.004