Implicit and explicit anti-fat attitudes and gestural mimicry

Abstract

Gestural mimicry is a fundamental building block of interpersonal relationships. Attitudes have been shown to influence mimicry. The present study was designed to investigate anti-fat attitudes and mimicry. Two types of attitudes were measured: implicit and explicit. Face-touching was measured as an index of gestural mimicry. Sixty-seven participants (N=67) were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions; they either watched a video with an obese speaker or a video with a non-obese speaker. The speaker delivered a speech and touched their faces several times. The viewers where monitored for gestural mimicry. All participants completed a computer-based Implicit Associations Test (IAT) and the Anti-Fat Attitudes Scale (AFAS). Ultimately, the video manipulation was too weak to elicit mimicry. Therefore, the present study neither supports nor disconfirms that there is an association between attitudes (implicit or explicit) and gestural mimicry.