The influence of partner appearance in the assessment of a person with obesity. An experimental study

Abstract Purpose: This study analyses whether knowing that an obese individual has a romantic relationship with a normal weight person improves impressions about him. Methods: An online experiment was conducted with a sample of 3,024 adult participants (1,828 women and 1,196 men) with a mean age of 36.11 (SD = 13.49). Each participant was shown two photographs: one of a male target with obesity and one of his female partner (who had either normal weight or obesity depending on the condition). The respondents’ gender was added as a fixed factor into the analyses. Physical attractiveness was rated using an item with a scale ranging from 0 to 100. Competence, warmth, and morality were measured using a 17-item adjective list.Results: The target was assessed as more attractive when he had a partner with normal weight (F(1, 3009) = 4.85, p = .028, η2 = .002), and was also given higher scores for competence (F(1, 3009) = 4.93, p = .026, η2= .002), warmth (F(1, 3009) = 4.32, p = .038, η2 = .001), and morality (F(1, 3009) = 11.16, p = .001, η2 = .004). There was a significant interaction between partner weight and the respondents’ gender for physical attractiveness, as the difference between the scores in each condition was only significant for women. Conclusion: It is possible that women perceived that the target who had a normal weight partner had a higher status or some hidden quality besides his physical appearance, and thus rated him as more attractive. Level of evidence: Level I, experimental study.