Does Control-Related Information Attenuate Biased Self-Control and Moral Perceptions Based on Weight?

Negative weight-based attitudes are pervasive and difficult to change. One reason may be the moralization of weight: if people use higher weight as a cue for lower self-control, they may infer lower moral character, given the strong link between self-control and morality. Moralized attitudes tend to be resistant to change. Accordingly, we tested whether (1) people perceived others with higher (vs. lower) weight as having lower self-control and, in turn, morality and (2) whether targeting control-related perceptions attenuated the weight → self-control → morality links. To that end, in two preregistered experiments (see OSF), we employed intervention strategies targeting control-related perceptions to increase moral evaluations of higher-weight individuals. Specifically, we provided evidence of a higher-weight person’s (a) weight uncontrollability (Study 1) and (b) high self-control (Study 2). People perceived higher-weight targets as having lower self-control, and this predicted perceptions of lower moral character. However, as with extant weight-based attitude interventions, neither experimental intervention strategy attenuated less positive (i.e., made more positive) moral character perceptions. These findings suggest that it is not enough to intervene on control-related beliefs to reduce the moralization of weight. We suggest intervening on moral perceptions directly and the possibility that moralization of weight may be automatic, requiring interventions targeting automatic attitudes.