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Updated: Jun 30, 2026

Intermittent Binge-Intake Model in Mice
Published on: January 10, 2025
The effects of causal beliefs and binge eating on the stigmatization of obesity
Katie L Bannon1, Dorian Hunter-Reel, G Terence Wilson
1Department of Psychology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA. katelbannon@gmail.com
Objective:
Weight disorders and overeating are increasingly labeled as addictions. It is important to identify the consequences of this label on the stigmatization of obesity.
Method:
Participants (N = 374) were assigned randomly to one of six conditions, in which they read a scenario about an obese woman either with or without binge eating, followed by an account of the cause of her obesity as psychological, a biological addiction, or ambiguous. Participants then completed questionnaires designed to assess stigma and prognostic beliefs.
Results:
Participants in the obesity with binge eating condition rated obese persons more negatively and as having a worse prognosis. The causal manipulation check revealed no difference between groups and there were no significant effects of this condition.
Discussion:
Behavior (binge eating) has important implications for understanding the stigmatization of obesity.
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