Weight discrimination and the negative cultural value of fat: the relationship to well-being across individuals with higher weights of different nations

BACKGROUND: Although discrimination against individuals with higher body weights is prevalent both within and outside the United States, research has largely overlooked how cultural norms and gender shape the experiences of those individuals. While cross-cultural work on anti-fat attitudes has examined variations in the Negative Cultural Value of Fat (NCF), how perceptions of NCF and Perceived Weight Discrimination (PWD) jointly affect well-being among individuals with higher weights across different countries has not been examined. The present study focused on participants who self-identified as overweight, hypothesizing larger gender disparities in well-being in Portugal and Mexico than in the United States, partly due to higher PWD and NCF among women. METHODS: 1865 participants from the United States (n = 676), Portugal (n = 616), and Mexico (n = 573) who self-identified as overweight completed an online survey lasting approximately 12 min (50% Women; Age: M = 34.6, SD = 12.44). The cross-sectional survey assessed PWD, NCF, Psychological Distress, and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation. RESULTS: Mediational models for Psychological Distress (F(8,1856) = 83.96, p < 0.001, R² = 0.27) and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation (F(8,1856) = 82.51, p < 0.001, R² = 0.26) were significant. Gender had indirect effects on well-being via PWD and NCF, with stronger effects of NCF observed in Portugal and Mexico than in the United States. This indicates that cultural context moderates the association between gender, NCF, weight stigma, and mental health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Findings underscore NCF as a distinct and important construct in understanding the cultural dimensions of weight stigma and highlight the necessity of cross-cultural approaches to studying the mental health impacts of weight stigma.