Pathogen-avoidance mechanisms and the stigmatization of obese people

Humans possess pathogen-avoidance mechanisms that respond to the visual perception of morphological anomalies in others. We investigated whether obesity may trigger these mechanisms. Study 1 revealed that people who are chronically concerned about pathogen transmission have more negative attitudes toward obese people; this effect was especially pronounced following visual exposure to obese individuals. Study 2 revealed that obesity is implicitly associated with disease-connoting concepts; this effect was especially pronounced when the threat of pathogen transmission is highly salient. Evolved pathogen-detection mechanisms are hypersensitive, and they appear to play a role in the stigmatization of obese people.