Graduation Year
2005
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Granting Department
Psychology
Major Professor
J. Kevin Thompson, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Michael Brannick, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Joseph Vandello, Ph.D.
Keywords
Stigmatization, Weight prejudice, Anti-fat bias, Media, Television
Abstract
In order to examine the phenomenon of fat messages presented through visual media, a content analysis was used to quantify and categorize fat-specific commentary. Fat commentary vignettes were identified using a targeted sampling procedure, and 135 scenes were excised from movies and TV shows. The material was coded by trained raters. Reliability indices were uniformly high for the seven categories (% agreement ranged from .90-.98; kappas ranged from .66-.94). Results indicated that fat commentary and fat humor is often verbal, directed toward another person, and is often presented directly in the presence of the overweight target. Results also indicated that male characters are three times more likely to engage in fat commentary or fat humor than female characters. These findings provide the first information regarding the specific gender, age, and types of fat commentary that occur frequently in movies and TV shows. The stimuli should prove useful in future research examining the role of individual difference factors (e.g., BMI) in the reaction to viewing such vignettes.
Scholar Commons Citation
Himes, Susan, "Fat Commentary and Fat Humor Presented in Visual Media: A Content Analysis" (2005). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/2926
