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

Cyberball GameCyberball Game

John B. Pryor & Glenn D. Reeder John B. Pryor & Glenn D. Reeder Illinois State UniversityIllinois State University

Eric D. Wesselmann, Kipling D. Williams, & James WirthEric D. Wesselmann, Kipling D. Williams, & James WirthPurdue UniversityPurdue University

Presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology MeetingsPresented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology MeetingsJanuary 27, 2007, Memphis, TNJanuary 27, 2007, Memphis, TN

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

Sara

Megan

Ashley

Me

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

Sara

Megan

Ashley

Me

Megan Megan

7.91

4.61

3.62

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

OstracizedPlayer

OtherPlayer 1

OtherPlayer 2

Ball Tosses to the 3 Players

Main Effect for Player:F(2,104) = 54.63, p < .01

How is adherence to an How is adherence to an inclusion norminclusion norm affected by the affected by the

presence of a powerful presence of a powerful stigma?stigma?

measuremeasure

of implicitof implicit

anti-fatanti-fat

attitudesattitudes

PlayPlay

CyberballCyberball

1 obese1 obese

& 2 non-& 2 non-obeseobese

playersplayers

3 3

non-non-obeseobese

playersplayers

ostracismostracism

of non-obeseof non-obese

playerplayer

inclusioninclusion

of non-obeseof non-obese

playerplayer

ostracismostracism

of obeseof obese

playerplayer

inclusioninclusion

of obeseof obese

playerplayer measuremeasure

of explicitof explicit

anti-fatanti-fat

attitudesattitudes

PreviewPreview

OtherOther

PlayersPlayers

AssessAssess

Anti-fatAnti-fat

AttitudesAttitudes

Basic ProcedureBasic Procedure& Design& Design

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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.

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Control Obese

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Control

Cyberball Game

Sara

Megan

Ashley

Pictograph Judgments: Implicit Anti-Fat Attitudes (AMP)

• Before and after photos of 30 women taken from Weight Watchers website

1 second 1 second

Judgmentof

Meaning

Judgmentof

Meaning

Lower quartile (fat)

Upper quartile (fit)

S1

-0.025

0.475

-0.05

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

Pleasantness

Comparison of Ratings of Chinese Pictographs Following Fattest and Fittest Photographs

t(95) = 5.68, p < .01

Explicit Attitude Measure: Feeling Thermometer for Obese Women

HypothesesHypotheses

• Adherence to an inclusion norm will be Adherence to an inclusion norm will be reduced when one of the players is reduced when one of the players is stigmatizedstigmatized

• Explicit attitudes will be related to more Explicit attitudes will be related to more controlled or deliberative biases toward the controlled or deliberative biases toward the stigmatized personstigmatized person

• Implicit attitudes will be related to automatic Implicit attitudes will be related to automatic biases toward the stigmatized personbiases toward the stigmatized person

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

Sara

Megan

Ashley

Percent of Tosses to Each Player

0.386

0.354

0.321

0.2970.295

0.334

0.309

0.347

0.319 0.312

0.370.356

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

Not Obese Obese Not Obese Obese

Ostracism Inclusion

Percent

Target Other Player 1 Other Player 2

Player X Ostracism: F(2,184) = 9.16, p < .01

Player X Obesity: F(2,184) = 3.19, p < .05

After first receiving the ball, how many turns did the participant delay in tossing the ball

to the target?

Sara

Megan

Ashley

InclusionOstracism

Not Obese

Obese

1.293

1.7

1.392

0.948

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

Delay

Delay in Trials to Toss to the Target Person as a Function of Ostracism/Inclusion & Target Obesity

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

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

Not ObeseInclusionObeseInclusion

Not ObeseOstracismObeseOstracism

Implicit

Explicit

0.035

0.188

-0.206

0.61

0.2580.34

0.0360.163

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Correlation

Correlations of Implicit and Explicit Anti-Fat Attitudes with Delay in Tossing to the Target

*

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

Sara

Megan

Ashley

InclusionOstracism

Not Obese

Obese

3381.416

3788.115

3517.2173492.283

3100

3200

3300

3400

3500

3600

3700

3800

Latency in miliseconds

Latency (Hesitation) in Tossing to the Target as a Function Of Ostracism/Inclusion and Target Obesity

(means adjusted for covariates)

Ostracism X Obesity X Implicit BiasF(1,84) = 13.21, p < ,01

*

* p <.01

Not ObeseInclusionObeseInclusion

Not ObeseOstracismObeseOstracism

Implicit

Explicit

0.028

-0.185-0.015

-0.139

0.0830.061

-0.487

0.583

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

correlations

Correlations between Latency (Hesitancy) to Toss to the Target and Implicit and Explicit Anti-Fat Attitudes

*

*

ConclusionsConclusions

• Inclusion norms are weaker when people Inclusion norms are weaker when people interact with a stigmatized personinteract with a stigmatized person

• Explicit attitudes moderate the impact of a Explicit attitudes moderate the impact of a stigma upon more controlled behaviorsstigma upon more controlled behaviors

• Implicit attitudes moderate the impact of a Implicit attitudes moderate the impact of a stigma upon more automatic behaviors.stigma upon more automatic behaviors.