Waistlines and Ratings of Executives: Does Executive Status Overcome Obesity Stigma?

• Author: Linda R. Shanock,Eden B. King,Steven G. Rogelberg,Phillip W. Braddy,Sharon C. Doerer,Sharon McDowell‐Larsen,Michelle R. Hebl
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21667
• Published date: 01 March 2016
• Date: 01 March 2016

Human Resource Management, March–April 2016, Vol. 55, No. 2. Pp. 283–300

© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21667

Correspondence to: Eden B. King, George Mason University, Department of Psychology, 4400 University Drive

MSN3f5, Fairfax, Virginia 22030, Phone: 703-993-1620, Fax: 713-993-1620, E-mail: eking6@gmu.edu

WAISTLINES AND RATINGS OF

EXECUTIVES: DOES EXECUTIVE

STATUS OVERCOME OBESITY STIGMA?

EDEN B. KING, STEVEN G. ROGELBERG, MICHELLE R. HEBL,

PHILLIP W. BRADDY, LINDA R. SHANOCK,

SHARON C. DOERER, AND SHARON MCDOWELL-LARSEN

Top executives hold positions that convey power, prestige, and competence as

predicted by status characteristics theory. Nevertheless, the impressions gener-

ated through this status characteristic may be vulnerable when executives also

possess characteristics that refl ect a devalued social identity, such as obesity. Data

from health examinations and multisource evaluation surveys of 757 CEOs, vice

presidents, and upper managers suggest that the observable cue of umbilical

waist circumference is negatively associated with evaluations of leaders across

hierarchical levels, even after controlling for Body Mass Index, physical activity,

personality, and demographic characteristics. Thus, hierarchically based status

characteristics are insuffi cient in overcoming the stigma of obesity: even CEOs are

subject to the pernicious effects of obesity stigma. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: diversity, social issues

A

few months after devouring doughnuts

on the popular Late Show with David

Letterman, admittedly obese New Jersey

Governor Chris Christie confirmed that

he underwent gastric band surgery. The

Wall Street Journal described this decision as a

“move that comes amid concerns about his

health as he emerges as a national player in the

Republican Party” (Haddon & Winslow, 2013).

Beyond physical health concerns, party strategists

may also be aware that obesity is associated with

negative interpersonal perceptions that might

impede political success.

According to the National Institutes of

Health (NIH), two thirds of the American popula-

tion is overweight or obese (NIH, 2010). Despite

the prevalence of obesity, Americans’ attitudes

toward and perceptions of heavy individuals are

typically more negative than those toward other

targets of stigma (Crandall & Martinez, 1996).

Whereas members of many social identity groups

derive positive self-image and support from their

in-groups, even the parents of obese children

(Crandall, 1994) and obese individuals themselves

often stigmatize obesity (Crandall & Biernat, 1990;

Crocker, Cornwell, & Major, 1993). Heavy individ-

uals are evaluated more negatively than thin indi-

viduals in both selection (Finkelstein, Demuth, &

Sweeney, 2007) and training contexts (Shapiro,

King, & Quiñones, 2007), and increases in weight

are associated with decreases in income (Judge

& Cable, 2011). Indeed, reviews of evidence on

employment discrimination toward obese work-

ers yield similar conclusions of general stigmatiza-

tion (Roehling, 1999; Rudolph, Wells, Weller, &

Baltes, 2008). However, the extent to which such

284 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, MARCH–APRIL 2016

Human Resource Management DOI: 10.1002/hrm

The negative status

associated with the

stigma of obesity

may overshadow

the powerful status

characteristic of a top

management position.

high status positions. Fourth, studies outside

of the laboratory rely nearly exclusively on self-

report survey data or perceived discrimination

(Roehling, 1999), which is subject to perceptual

biases (Crosby, 1984; Elgar, Roberts, Tudor-Smith,

& Moore, 2005). Fifth, while field studies typi-

cally control for or explore the role of gender and

ethnicity on weight discrimination, they rarely

include other characteristics (such as personality)

that may influence indices of bias (M. V. Roehling,

Roehling, & Odland, 2008). Sixth, both laboratory

and field studies are limited in their operation-

alization of obesity by relying on judgments of

“overweight” versus “not overweight” body sizes

as a function of photographs or body mass index

(BMI) that may not fully account for cues that give

rise to the stigma of obesity. Finally, nearly every

study previously conducted on the stigma of obe-

sity has focused on employees in or applicants for

low- to midlevel positions. Thus, while it is clear

that fictitious individuals who appear to be obese

are stigmatized in low- and midlevel jobs, it is not

yet known whether individuals at the highest lev-

els of organizations are subjected to bias.

These limitations, taken with the predictions of

status characteristics theory, give rise to questions

about the boundary conditions and generalizabil-

ity of obesity discrimination in the workplace.

The central question addressed in this paper is,

does the stigma of obesity eclipse the positive

outcomes resulting from status associated with

a top management position? Thus, this research

makes four contributions to the literature. First,

we uniquely integrate sociological and psycholog-

ical perspectives by drawing from status character-

istics and stigma theories to understand whether

devalued physical characteristics can overwhelm

positive hierarchical status cues. Second, by exam-

ining multisource ratings of actual top executives

(rather than self-ratings, evaluations of strangers,

or “paper-people” in a lab setting) and upper man-

agers, we offer novel empirical evidence address-

ing the question of whether bias affects those

who have attained hierarchical status using raters

who have existing relationships with the execu-

tives. Third, we build understanding of the cues

that give rise to stigma by considering umbili-

cal waist circumference, which was assessed by a

third-party health care professional as a specific,

observable cue that triggers negative expectations.

We also test the robustness of our findings by con-

sidering additional factors—personality, physical

activity, and demographic characteristics—that

could impinge on the relationship between upper

managers’ weight and their performance ratings.

Fourth, in considering obesity stigma as it inter-

sects with age and gender, this work addresses

findings extend to the highest levels—one that

conveys substantial social status—is unclear.

According to status characteristics theory, val-

ued attributes (i.e., status characteristics) give rise

to positive performance expectations and impres-

sions of competence (Berger, Cohen, & Zelditch,

1966). In addition, positive interpretations of

behavior can be associated with status charac-

teristics that are valued (Gerber, 1996). Being a

member of the C-suite, much like occupying a

high-level political office, conveys wealth, power,

prestige, and competence (Ravlin & Thomas,

2005). Indeed, leaders have greater influence and

are rated more positively with regard to power and

competence than are lower status group members

(Harvey, 1953; Hollander, 1961; Sherif, White, &

Harvey, 1955; Torrance, 1955). Though expecta-

tions of individuals are typically derived from

more than a single characteristic (Humphreys &

Berger, 1981), it is difficult to conceive of charac-

teristics that reduce the status conveyed by a top

executive job title in the workplace. Nevertheless,

these positive expectations and

impressions of competence may be

vulnerable when top executives also

possess characteristics that reflect

a devalued (i.e., stigmatized) social

identity—especially when the deval-

ued attribute is highly visible as in

the case of obesity.

We propose that the negative

status associated with the stigma of

obesity may overshadow the pow-

erful status characteristic of a top

management position, considered

here as CEOs or company presi-

dents. This study addresses meaningful internal

and external validity limitations of the existing

body of research on obesity discrimination in the

workplace (Puhl & Heuer, 2009; Rudolph et al.,

2008). First, conclusions about employment dis-

crimination toward obese individuals are primar-

ily based on experiments that assess bias toward

fictitious targets (i.e., “paper-people”; see Rudolph

et al., 2008) that can inflate relationships found

in authentic samples (see Murphy, Herr, Lockhart,

& Maguire, 1986). Second, laboratory studies gen-

erally fail to account for preexisting relationships

that occur between raters and ratees in real-world

settings, raising questions about the generaliz-

ability of existing findings in light of evidence

that biases are less likely to emerge when raters

know more about targets (Fiske & Neuberg, 1990).

Third, these laboratory studies tend to focus on

analyses contrasting narrow job types, such as

positions involving high and low levels of con-

tact with the public, and thus may not apply to