Abstract

Studies have shown that children of all ages demonstrate anti-fat attitudes. This study investigates the differences in children’s expected behaviors (positive/negative) of peers of varying body sizes. Also, using the Ultimate Attribution Error as a framework, this study explores the influence of causal information (dispositional/situational) on these expected behaviors. Children (4- to 8-year-olds) were presented with 12 different stories that described a behavior and the causes of that behavior. The children then selected one of six figures (thin, average and overweight boys and girls) to be the character in the story. Children also indicated their current perceived body size on a 7-figure scale in order to assess their perceived weight affiliation. The results of this study indicated that overall, children expected thin and average weight figures to behave more positively than overweight figures. Children were also found to endorse overweight figures more for negative behaviors explained by dispositional causes rather than situational causes.