Author : Emily A. Iobst
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (796 download)
Book Synopsis The Relationship Among Gender, Age, Blame, and Children's Attributions about an Overweight Peer by : Emily A. Iobst
Download or read book The Relationship Among Gender, Age, Blame, and Children's Attributions about an Overweight Peer written by Emily A. Iobst and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research has shown that children are often less accepting of their overweight peers as compared to their average weight counterparts (e.g., Brylinsky & Moore, 1994; Cramer & Steinwert, 1998). Blaming one for his/her overweight condition may lead to more negative attributions about that person, according to attribution theory (Weiner, 1986). The current study examined the role of blame in children's attributions about their overweight peers. Further, the current study investigated whether perceiver characteristics, specifically age and gender, were related to children's attributions about their overweight peers, and the extent to which blame mediated these relationships. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to determine whether the seven traits (e.g., being bad, worried, happy, nice) measured in this study were reflective of a single, unidimensional factor rather than separate constructs. Data for two hundred ninety-one children (aged 3- to 11-years-old) were analyzed for this study. Participants were assigned to view a videotape of a same-sex peer dressed to appear overweight. Following the viewing of the videotape, children completed the Child Interview (Lehmkuhl, 2005; Lehmkuhl et al., 2002; Lehmkuhl et al., 2004), which assessed the participants' perceptions of the target child on certain traits, their perceptions about how much the child was to blame for being overweight, and how much they generally accepted the target child. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that six of the seven traits loaded onto a single factor, referred to as "judgment." Blame was significantly and positively associated with judgment, with higher blame scores (low blame) being related to higher judgment scores (more positive judgment). Gender was neither related to blame nor judgment. Results also suggested age level differences in blame and attributions about overweight peers. However, these age level differences depended on which endogenous variable was being examined. Five- to 8-year-olds reported the least amount of blame, and, through mediation, the most accepting views of the model, compared to the other age groups. Young children (aged 3- to 4-years-old) were less accepting compared to the other two age groups, and thus, interventions should focus on this age group to possibly prevent negative opinions in later years. Further, because positivity toward overweight peers did not continue into the 9- to 11-year-old age group, interventions should also be directed at this age group, who might be apt to be less accepting of their overweight peers due to the social concerns and identity formation (Jones & Crawford, 2006; Neumark-Sztainer, Falkner, Story, Perry, Hannan, & Mulert, 2002) during this time in development. Future research should examine the impact of interventions on children's perceptions of fault for peers who are overweight to determine what techniques are related to improved perceptions of peers who are physically different.