Personal experience with weight-based stigma is negatively associated with selfesteem (Myers & Rosen, 1999). This study examined how self-esteem is affected by exposure to weight-based stigma communication that is directed at another person. Using Smith’s (2007a) stigma communication framework, I created a 2 (Stigma Level: high, low) x 2 (Gender of stigmatized person: male, female) x 2 (Body Size of stigmatized person: large, small) posttest-only experiment. Participants’ self-esteem was not impacted after viewing stigmatizing messages directed at another person. This suggests that selfesteem is more stable than some researchers indicate (Wagner, Lüdtke, and Trautwein, 2016). My results suggest that stigma communication message features, marking and personal responsibility, are more obvious in high stigma level conditions. Furthermore, results indicate that aspects of stigma are recognized in larger bodies more often than small bodies. These results suggest that perceptions about stigma communication vary by the stigma level and the stigma target’s attributes, namely body size. Implications are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>Personal experience with weight-based stigma is negatively associated with selfesteem (Myers & Rosen, 1999). This study examined how self-esteem is affected by exposure to weight-based stigma communication that is directed at another person. Using Smith’s (2007a) stigma communication framework, I created a 2 (Stigma Level: high, low) x 2 (Gender of stigmatized person: male, female) x 2 (Body Size of stigmatized person: large, small) posttest-only experiment. Participants’ self-esteem was not impacted after viewing stigmatizing messages directed at another person. This suggests that selfesteem is more stable than some researchers indicate (Wagner, Lüdtke, and Trautwein, 2016). My results suggest that stigma communication message features, marking and personal responsibility, are more obvious in high stigma level conditions. Furthermore, results indicate that aspects of stigma are recognized in larger bodies more often than small bodies. These results suggest that perceptions about stigma communication vary by the stigma level and the stigma target’s attributes, namely body size. Implications are discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Malterud, Andie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Communication Studies and Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Jenn Anderson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:28:43Z","subjects":["body-size","communication","heath","laypeople","self-esteem","stigma"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1205","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Jenn Anderson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Malterud, Andie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-05-11T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Communication Studies and Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["body-size","communication","heath","laypeople","self-esteem","stigma"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1205"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Personal experience with weight-based stigma is negatively associated with selfesteem (Myers & Rosen, 1999). This study examined how self-esteem is affected by exposure to weight-based stigma communication that is directed at another person. Using Smith’s (2007a) stigma communication framework, I created a 2 (Stigma Level: high, low) x 2 (Gender of stigmatized person: male, female) x 2 (Body Size of stigmatized person: large, small) posttest-only experiment. Participants’ self-esteem was not impacted after viewing stigmatizing messages directed at another person. This suggests that selfesteem is more stable than some researchers indicate (Wagner, Lüdtke, and Trautwein, 2016). My results suggest that stigma communication message features, marking and personal responsibility, are more obvious in high stigma level conditions. Furthermore, results indicate that aspects of stigma are recognized in larger bodies more often than small bodies. These results suggest that perceptions about stigma communication vary by the stigma level and the stigma target’s attributes, namely body size. Implications are discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Do College Students Perceive Stigma the Same Way Experts Do? An Experimental Test of Lay Perceptions of Body-Size Stigma"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Jenn Anderson"],"dc:creator":["Malterud, Andie"],"dc:date.available":["2017-05-11T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Personal experience with weight-based stigma is negatively associated with selfesteem (Myers & Rosen, 1999). This study examined how self-esteem is affected by exposure to weight-based stigma communication that is directed at another person. Using Smith’s (2007a) stigma communication framework, I created a 2 (Stigma Level: high, low) x 2 (Gender of stigmatized person: male, female) x 2 (Body Size of stigmatized person: large, small) posttest-only experiment. Participants’ self-esteem was not impacted after viewing stigmatizing messages directed at another person. This suggests that selfesteem is more stable than some researchers indicate (Wagner, Lüdtke, and Trautwein, 2016). My results suggest that stigma communication message features, marking and personal responsibility, are more obvious in high stigma level conditions. Furthermore, results indicate that aspects of stigma are recognized in larger bodies more often than small bodies. These results suggest that perceptions about stigma communication vary by the stigma level and the stigma target’s attributes, namely body size. Implications are discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/1205"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["body-size","communication","heath","laypeople","self-esteem","stigma"],"dc:title":["Do College Students Perceive Stigma the Same Way Experts Do? An Experimental Test of Lay Perceptions of Body-Size Stigma"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Communication Studies and Theatre"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:28:43Z"}