A brief induction of loving kindness meditation to reduce anti-fat bias.
PloS one January 1, 2024 Kristen M Lee, Bita Ghanei, A Janet Tomiyama 1 citation
Weight stigma is widespread, but existing interventions have only modest effects. Two experiments tested a loving kindness meditation (LKM) as a novel approach. Experiment 1 examined whether LKM reduces explicit and implicit anti-fat bias and increases empathy, depending on whether the recipient is a close other or a stranger. Experiment 2 compared LKM to an empathy intervention and a control. The LKM increased empathic care but did not reduce anti-fat bias relative to control. In unadjusted analyses, LKM (but not the empathy intervention) led to greater empathy than control. Unexpectedly, participants in both LKM and empathy interventions were more likely to engage in stigmatizing behavior than those in the control. These results indicate that LKM may not effectively reduce weight stigma despite boosting empathy.