The effects of race, weight, and gender on evaluations of writing competence

This study examined the potential interactive effects of target race, weight, and gender on American Caucasian students' ratings of writing competency. Stimulus materials were eight articles in a newspaper byline format with photographs of the authors that conveyed the characteristics of race (African American/Caucasian), weight (overweight/nonoverweight), and gender (male/female). The participants were given eight articles and were asked to rate the writing competency of the author on the four qualities of style, clarity, logic, and overall writing ability/competency. The results showed that the women gave higher style, logic, and overall writing ability/competency ratings than did the men, and overweight authors received higher ratings of logic than nonoverweight authors. The men gave female Caucasian authors lower ratings of clarity than did female participants.