What comes to mind when you think of these people – actress Kathy Bates, singer/actress Queen Latifah, and CCN commentator Candy Crowley? Can you picture them? If so, you know that one thing these top-achieving professionals have in common is that they all carry what our North American culture would categorize as “a few extra pounds.” Because we know what these three people do for a living and how much they have accomplished, their physical appearance probably doesn’t lead us to jump to any conclusions about their abilities, energy, or self-discipline. But, what happens when we encounter people of similar weight in our workplaces? What sort of knee-jerk assumptions might we make about their potential to succeed?
A Growing Bias
Researchers are fond of reminding Americans that, as a group, we are getting heavier. According, for example, to the Center for Disease Control, excess weight among adults has increased by 60% in the last 20 years. I’m not disputing this statistic nor am I saying that keeping reasonably trim isn’t a good idea. What bothers me is the conclusions we jump to – the bias we have — about what a few extra pounds means about the character and abilities of the individual.
It also bothers me that this weight bias is increasing at the exact time as the number of people who are considered heavy grows. Somehow I would have thought that, as being heavier becomes closer to the norm, the bias would subside. Also, it seems reasonable to assume that, because there are more heavy-set people, more of us would have had the opportunity to come to know them as individuals. As a result, more of us would have an accurate view of what weight does or not tell us about character and ability.
Sadly, the opposite seems to be the case. Despite the increased number of employees who wouldn’t stand a chance in the anorexic world of Hollywood, biases against the heavy-set are on the upswing. Within the last year alone, three studies have appeared all of which agree that, in the workplace, heavy-set people are often assumed to be lazy, sloppy, and lacking in self-control. (Wayne State University, the Society for Industrial Organizational Psychology, State University of Detroit)
Some researchers even go so far as to say that weight-based stereotypes are stronger than race or gender bias. This at first seems unlikely, but begins to make some sense when we consider what Dr. Boris Baites, a psychology professor at Wayne State University, has to say. He theorizes that the reason weight bias is so strong and pervasive is because people assume that how much a person weighs is, unlike race or gender, within his or her control.
I’m not here to dispute the reality that, beyond some vaguely described limit, carrying extra pounds does impact health and, therefore, productivity and corporate health care costs. But, that’s not the kind of obesity I’m talking about. I’m talking about those millions of healthy, productive, valuable human beings who are overlooked or rejected solely because they no longer, or never could, fit into a pair of size 8 jeans.
Oddly, only one state (Michigan) and a scattering of cities have declared it illegal to discriminate against an individual because of weight. The fact that your organization is probably not at risk for a law suit if weight bias prevails should be of little comfort, however. You are still in danger of failing to hire or retain valuable employees solely because of appearance.
What You Can Do
As with most solutions, the solution to weight bias begins with the individual. The challenge for each of us is to identify our biases and weaken them to a degree that will allow us to judge an individual’s character and ability accurately. Here are some steps to get you started:
1. Get in the habit of watching your first assumption when encountering a heavy-set person. Do you find yourself immediately worrying that she will move slowly, be sick a lot, or have trouble keeping up with the pace around the office? If the answer to that question is “yes,” follow it with: “Would I feel the same way about the person’s character or abilities if she weighed a few pounds less?” If the answer is that you would feel differently – that concerns about health or pace would never cross your mind – you might just have a bias on your hands.
2. If you find you do have a weight bias, examine your past experience with overweight people. Do you have a negative association with this group? Did you have a relative who was substantially overweight and with whom you did not have a good relationship? Were you at one time overweight yourself and struggle not to associate yourself with those who are? The answers to these questions will help you understand the root of your inflexible belief, and, because the process calls on the rational parts of the brain, will automatically begin to erode the bias.
3. Think of three people you know or know of who do not conform to this bias. Kathy Bates, Queen Latifah, and Candy Crowley are a start, but I’m sure you personally know three more people who, by the culture’s standards, could drop a few pounds. Ask yourself: What have those people accomplished? How hard do they work? How clean, neat, and energetic are they? My guess is that the answers to these questions will provide ample bias-defeating evidence that weight-based stereotypes are usually wrong.
4. Make a conscious effort to seek out and get to know three people who fall into this category. One of the researchers, Cort Rudolph, hints at this solution when he points out that weight bias is most apt to impact decisions at the hiring stage and less when it comes time to completing performance evaluations or making decisions about promotions. Clearly, the longer we know a person, the more apt we are to evaluate him as an individual human being rather than as a member of group against which we might hold a bias.
Knowledge is the answer – knowledge of ourselves and knowledge of others. The more knowledge we have, the harder it will be for bias to prevail.
Sondra Thiederman is a speaker and author on bias-reduction, diversity, and cross-cultural issues. Her latest book, Making Diversity Work: Seven Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace (New York: Kaplan Publishing, Revised second edition, 2008), provides practical tools for defeating bias and bias-related conflicts in the workplace. She can be contacted for Webinars and in-person presentations at: www.Thiederman.com, STPhD@Thiederman.com, 800-858-4478.
