Objective: To examine the effect of weighing and comparison with social norms on self-esteem, mood and body dissatisfaction.
Design: An experimental design was used.
Subjects: Seventy-four normal weight individuals took part in the study.
Procedure: Subjects completed a set of measures before and after being weighed and sequentially allocated to either the under, average or over weight conditions according to a fictional height-weight chart.
Results: The results showed that subjects allocated to the overweight group showed an increase in depression and a decrease in self esteem following the manipulation, compared to subjects in the average weight group who reported improvements in these measures and the underweight group who similarly showed decreased depression, but showed some deterioration of their self-esteem.
Conclusion: Weighing and comparison with height weight charts of weight norms is used both to detect and treat overweight and obesity. The results from this study indicate that this procedure may not be as benign as believed and may contribute to the negative psychological state of the individual.