The relationship between body weight and perceived weight-related employment discrimination: The role of sex and race

Abstract

This study provides unique empirical evidence regarding a growing concern internationally: weight discrimination in the workplace. Using survey data from a national sample of 2838 American adults, it responds to Puhl and Brownell’s [Puhl, R., & Brownell, K. D. (2001). Bias, discrimination, and obesity. Obesity Research, 9, 788–805] call for additional research investigating the prevalence of discriminatory experience among overweight employees, and to their more specific call for research that takes sex and race into account when examining weight discrimination. The results indicate that women are over 16 times more likely than men to perceive employment related discrimination and identify weight as the basis for their discriminatory experience. In addition, overweight respondents were 12 times more likely than normal weight respondents to report weight-related employment discrimination, obese 37 times more likely, and severely obese more than 100 times more likely. The implications of the study’s findings for organizations, policy makers, overweight employees, and career counselors are discussed, and future research directions suggested.

Introduction

The increased focus on employee weight and its contribution to employers’ health care costs in recent years has raised concerns that overweight job applicants and employees may experience unfair, if not illegal, employment discrimination (Alvarez and Soltis, 2006, Grossman, 2004, Wysocki, 2004). There is reason to believe that such concerns may be well founded. Experimental studies in the US provide consistent evidence of discrimination against the overweight in a wide variety of simulated employment decisions (e.g., hiring, placement, compensation, promotion, discharge; Cossrow et al., 2001, Hebl and Mannix, 2003, Roehling, 1999, Wade and DiMaria, 2003). There is also evidence that job seekers’ weight has a biasing influence on assessments of their career potential (Cash, Gillen, & Burns, 1977), and the career advice they receive (Benson, Severs, Tatgenhorst, & Loddengaard, 1980). Increasing obesity levels in industrialized countries (Williams, 2006), and research regarding the relationship between weight and career-related outcomes (e.g., wages) from outside the US, suggest that weight discrimination in employment is likely to be a growing concern internationally (e.g., Ding and Stillman, 2005, Harper, 2000, Sarlio-Lahteenkorva and Lahelma, 1999, Thomas, 2005).

In addition to fairness and effective human resource management considerations, there is also reason for growing concern regarding the potential legal implications of weight discrimination. Currently only one state (Michigan) and several cities (e.g., San Francisco, Santa Cruz) explicitly prohibit weight discrimination in employment. However, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1991 and similar state disability laws provide protection against employment discrimination based on weight-related “actual” or “perceived” disabilities (Roehling, Roehling, & Odland, forthcoming), and the differential application of weight standards to female and male employees (e.g., treating overweight women more harshly than overweight men) has been found to constitute illegal sex discrimination (e.g., Gerdom v. Continental Airlines, Inc, 1982). Calls for new legislation providing overweight job applicants greater protection against discrimination suggest that the legal implications of weight discrimination is a growing concern (e.g., Horner, 2005, Theran, 2001).

While a substantial body of research indicates that body weight influences simulated employment decisions, much less is known about overweight employees’ actual discriminatory experiences. To what extent do overweight individuals perceive that they are discriminated against because of their weight in real-world employment settings? Does the answer to that question vary by sex and race (e.g., does sex moderate the relationship between body weight and perceived employment discrimination)? How prevalent is weight-related perceived employment discrimination compared to other forms of perceived employment discrimination (e.g., sex, race or ethnicity)? In investigating these questions, the present study responds to both the general call for additional research investigating the prevalence of discriminatory experience among overweight employees, and to the more specific need for research that takes sex and race into account when examining weight-related discrimination (Puhl & Brownell, 2001). Its results have important implications for several groups, including: organizations concerned about the fairness and effectiveness of their employment decisions, policymakers considering the need for legislation providing protection against weight discrimination (Horner, 2005), overweight individuals, and the career counselors who advise them.

The remainder of this article is organized in four sections. The first section discusses the perceived discrimination construct and its importance as a subject of study, and reviews existing perceived weight discrimination research. The second section presents and discusses the research questions that guide the present investigation of the relationships among body weight, sex, race, and perceived employment discrimination. The third section describes the present study and reports its results. We conclude by discussing the study’s findings and their practical implications, and identifying future research directions.