Resumen de Diferencias en la percepción de prejuicio, discriminación, no discriminación y afrontamiento, entre personas con y sin sobrepeso

Claudia Estrada Goic, Carolina B. Sepúlveda Muñoz, Paula C. Adriazola González, Sofía P. Seissus Cárcamo, Pablo A. Sánchez Herrera

• español

  El sobrepeso corporal transciende su potencial impacto en la salud física y se constituye en un estigma social visible de quienes lo poseen, además de ser considerado objeto de su responsabilidad personal. El estudio compara a personas con y sin sobrepeso en su percepción de prejuicio, discriminación, la utilidad de dos normas para no discriminar (igualdad/equidad) y las técnicas de afrontamiento más utilizadas. La hipótesis a la base fue que las personas de ambas muestras tendrían diferencias en la forma y en el grado que adoptaban estos fenómenos. Un total de 241 personas con sobrepeso y 215 personas sin sobrepeso se autocategorizaron como tales, y respondieron a instrumentos midiendo las variables ya señaladas. Los resultados principales indicaron que las personas con sobrepeso se veían a sí mismas como objeto de prejuicio sutil, mientras que las personas sin sobrepeso dijeron que se ejerce, comparativamente, más prejuicio manifiesto y maltrato interpersonal hacia las personas con sobrepeso. Con respecto a las normas de no discriminación, ambos grupos concordaron con la utilidad de la norma de equidad, entendida como la aplicación de condiciones diferenciales compensatorias para los miembros de un grupo estigmatizado. Las personas con sobrepeso adhirieron más a la norma de la igualdad, entendida como la aplicación de las mismas reglas para las personas de grupos con y sin características estigmatizadas. Se concluye que existen diferencias en la percepción de ambos grupos y se discuten estos resultados en sus consecuencias potenciales para las relaciones intergrupales y en las políticas públicas de no discriminación.

• English

  Prejudice and stigmatization are problems that are not linked to a particular society or culture, compromising the coexistence of two kinds of people: individuals who possess characteristics that can be evaluated as negative, and those who devalue people who possess such characteristics. In modern societies, what in some cultures was considered a positive virtue, today is seen as a stigma that comes from a negative stereotype. Being overweight implies being seen as a sick, negligent and inactive person, transcending the scope of what organic health is and conditioning those who are overweight to become part of a socially stigmatized group. The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate both the impact of the overweight observer’s perception and the normal-weight observer’s perception. In addition, it will be described the breadth of the problem as a modern social stigma. A total of 241 people who perceived themselves as being overweight and 215 people who considered themselves as being normal-weight participated in this research. Both groups answered instruments that measured prejudice against overweight people in two different versions: one focused on the perception of being prejudiced and the other focused on the perception of prejudicing against people with overweight. When it comes to discrimination, it was measured through self and heteronomous perception, as the case may be. It also looks for the existence of interpersonal abuse towards the stigmatized group as well as the proposed non-discrimination norms. As a consequence, the instrument measures two norms for confronting discrimination: the norm of equity, which seeks to equalize competence conditions between the groups, and the norm of equality, which aims to establish the same rules for everyone. The four specific strategies for coping with discrimination-related stress are: discrimination minimization, intra group comparison, attribution to discrimination, and selective disengagement. It is postulated that both stigmatized and stigmatizing groups will differ not only in their number, but also in the degree to which different perceptions of the phenomenon are presented. The results of our investigation are aligned with our hypotheses. The main analysis indicates a higher perception of being the object of subtle prejudice in overweight people (M = 2.70, SD = 1.12), while those who belong to the group of normal-weight (M = 2.30, SD = 1.11) outnumber the group of overweight people in terms of adherence to manifest prejudice and interpersonal abuse (t (454) = -3.92, p = .001). Both groups agree on focusing on equity, as a non-discrimination norm, in order to effectively confront discrimination and promote fair and respectful treatment (t (454) = 0.90, ns). A greater preference is observed in the focusing on equality, as the non-discrimination norm by the overweight group (F (1, 452) = 379.2, p = .001). They indicate that they wish, in order not to feel discriminated against, to be considered equal to normal weight people and that the same rules and conditions apply to them. Therefore, in relation to the stigmatized and stigmatizing groups, the differences shown are in all types of prejudice, even though the neutral point indicated a low score in prejudice. Nevertheless, in the stigmatizing group the average is higher in manifest prejudice and total prejudice, perceiving that they prejudice more of what is known as manifest prejudice. Alternatively, the stigmatized group indicates perceiving a greater reception of subtle prejudice. Finally, the stigmatizing group (normal weight people) claims to commit more interpersonal abuse than the stigmatized group perceives to be the object (t(454) = 8.12, p = .001). The stigmatized group (overweight people) (M = 3.99, SD = 0.88) declares that they use more the coping strategy of minimizing discrimination, unlike the stigmatizing people (M = 3.46, SD = 0.85), t(454) = -6.48, p = .001. The latter, on the other hand, mention that they use significantly more the strategies to cope with discrimination, such as those of attribution to discrimination and selective disengagement t(454) = 3.30, p = .001. These results are discussed to understand how a visible and controllable stigma is experienced, their potential consequences for intergroup relations.