Underweight vs. overweight/obese: which weight category do we prefer? Dissociation of weight-related preferences at the explicit and implicit level

Objective Although stigma towards obesity and anorexia is a well-recognized problem, no research has investigated and compared the explicit (i.e. conscious) and implicit (i.e. unconscious) preferences between these two conditions. The present study conducted this investigation in a sample of 4,806 volunteers recruited at the Project Implicit website (https://implicit.harvard.edu). Methods Explicit and implicit preferences were assessed among different weight categories (i.e. underweight, normal weight and overweight/obese) by means of self-reported items and the Multi-category Implicit Association Test, respectively. Results Preferences for the normal weight category were found both at the explicit and implicit levels when this category was compared with overweight/obese and underweight categories. On the contrary, when the underweight category was contrasted with the obese/overweight category, results differed at the explicit and implicit levels: pro-underweight preferences were observed at the explicit level, while pro-overweight/obese preferences were found at the implicit level. Conclusions These results indicate that preferences between overweight/obese and underweight categories differ at the explicit and implicit levels. This dissociation may have important implications on behaviour and decision-making.