A brief induction of loving kindness meditation to reduce anti-fat bias.

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.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Weight stigma is highly prevalent. However, existing weight stigma interventions are only modestly effective at reducing anti-fat attitudes. The current research proposes a novel approach using a loving kindness meditation (LKM). Experiment 1 tests whether random assignment to the LKM intervention reduces explicit and implicit anti-fat bias and increases empathy based on the LKM recipient with higher weight (close other vs. stranger). Experiment 2 tests whether LKM outperforms an empathy intervention or control to increase empathy or reduce stigmatizing behavior. Results revealed that the LKM increased empathic care but did not reduce anti-fat bias compared to control; the LKM intervention, but not the empathy intervention, reported greater empathy compared to control in unadjusted analyses; and participants in the LKM and empathy interventions (vs. control) were more likely to engage in stigmatizing behavior. These findings suggest that the LKM may not be effective at reducing weight stigma despite increasing empathy.