An Exploration of Contextual Factors of Weight-based Discrimination Against Business Leaders

Two-thirds of the adult population of the United States are considered overweight (Ogden, Carroll, Kit, & Flegal, 2013) and are susceptible to weight-based discrimination in the workplace (Rudolph, Wells, Weller, & Baltes, 2009). The weight-based discrimination experienced by business leaders is relatively unknown. The present research used Leader Categorization Theory (Lord & Maher, 1991) as a framework to examine the extent to which a business leader’s weight is associated with their perceived leadership qualities and effectiveness in two studies. The first study isolated the relationship between the base rate of weight in an organization and the assumed weight of the COO by verbally manipulating the weight distribution (normal weight and overweight) in the organization. The second study examined how leader gender and race as well as team performance affect perceptions of leaders in two weight categories: normal weight and overweight/obese. Combined, the results of these two studies provided evidence that a) weight-based discrimination of leaders exists, b) this discrimination is more prominent under conditions of stable and improving team performance, and c) women are more strongly penalized for their body size while race is not a significant factor. In addition to the novel exploration of identity intersectionality in leaders, this research has implications for both workplace diversity and discrimination interventions as well as leader performance evaluations. WEIGHT-BASED DISCRIMINATION OF LEADERS 3 An Exploration of Contextual Factors of Weight-Based Discrimination against Business Leaders Over the last few decades, the average size of Americans has been steadily increasing. A number of researchers have pointed to body-weight discrimination as an important area for future research (Ruggs et al., 2013; Davison & Bing, 2013; Roehling, Pichler, & Bruce, 2013; Levay, 2014). It is essential for researchers to more fully understand the experiences of people who fall into extreme weight categories because, not only is there ample evidence that weight bias exists (e.g., Puhl & Heuer, 2009), but, increasingly, more and more of the global population is becoming a member of extreme weight categories. As of 2014, 37.7% of adults in the United States were considered obese. Looking at weight trends in the previous decade, the percentage of obese men has remained fairly stable since 2005 at 35% but there has been a steady increase in obesity among women since 2005 with obesity levels above 40% (Flegal, Kruszon-Moran, Carroll, Fryar, & Ogden, 2016). The prevalence of overweight adults in the United States is much higher at 69.5%. However, unlike with obesity, men are more likely to be overweight than women (73.0% and 66.2%, respectively; National Center for Health Statistics, 2016). With more than two-thirds of the country belonging to what is considered an “extreme” weight category, it is clear that individuals in what is considered the “normal” weight category are becoming increasingly uncommon. Researchers and doctors commonly use body mass index (BMI) to define weight categories. BMI is a measure of weight adjusted by height, intended to approximate levels of body fat, and is correlated to direct measures of body fat (CDC, 2013). The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines weight classifications based on WEIGHT-BASED DISCRIMINATION OF LEADERS 4 the Body Mass Index (BMI). The weight categories as defined by the CDC are “underweight” (BMI under 18.5), “normal weight” (BMI between 18.5 and 24.9), “overweight” (BMI between 25.0 and 29.9), and “obese” (BMI over 30.0; CDC, 2012). It should be noted that, due to the approximate rather than exact measure of body fat, BMI is typically not used as a diagnostic tool for individuals but is useful to examine at the population level (CDC, 2013). Though the medical, and often research, community groups individuals into different categories of weight, body weight is a continuous variable and can be difficult to break into distinct categories. As noted in meta-analytic investigations of weight bias, the terms overweight and obese are often used interchangeably in experimental research that examines weight bias (Roehling et al., 2013). As a result, this paper uses the term overweight to refer to any weight level that exceeds the normative standards (i.e., any BMI above 25), including both the categories of overweight and obese. However, as there are often observed differences within this “overweight” category, these differences will be denoted by using both the terms “obese” and “overweight” as the authors of the specific research used them.