the training and lower expectations

the training and lower expectations of the trainee’s
desire to excel in the training and succeed in the trained task.
Given that women are likely to reject obese women (e.g.,
Decker, 1987), we expected the following:
Hypothesis 1b: This effect will be moderated by trainer gender
such that the predicted expectancy effect will be strongest
among female trainers.
According to self-fulfilling prophecy theory and research, and
consistent with extant stereotypes of obese individuals, we anticipated
that trainer negative expectations of obese trainee ability
and motivation will lead to lower quality training:
Hypothesis 2a: Compared with trainers of average-weight
trainees, trainers of obese trainees will evaluate the training
and trainee more negatively.
Hypothesis 2b: Trainer evaluations will be moderated by
trainer gender such that the predicted effect will be strongest
among female trainers.
Hypothesis 3a: Compared with trainees in the average-weight
condition, trainees in the obese condition will evaluate the
training and the trainer more negatively.
Hypothesis 3b: Trainee evaluations will be moderated by
trainer gender such that the predicted effect will be strongest
among trainees trained by female trainers.
If obese trainees are subject to a lower quality training on the
basis of trainer expectations, such training outcomes as poorer
knowledge and skill acquisition may ultimately lead stigmatized
trainees to fulfill trainer expectations. Therefore, we expected the
following:
Hypothesis 4a: Trainees in the obese condition will perform
more poorly on the trained task than trainees in the averageweight
condition.
Hypothesis 4b: Trainee score on the trained task will be
moderated by trainer gender such that performance deficits in
the trained task will be strongest among trainees trained by
female trainers.
Method
Participants
Ninety undergraduate students participated in exchange for course
credit. Forty-five women1 (Mage
19.44, SD
1.22) played the role of
trainee and 45 students (19 women, 26 men) played the role of the trainer
(Mage
19.24, SD
1.14). The unit of analysis was each trainer–trainee
pair, resulting in a sample size of 45.2
Materials
Manipulated photographs. Each trainer was presented with a digital
photograph ostensibly depicting the trainee (see Figure 1). The photographs
were created using a Size 8 model (average weight for her height)
seated on a couch. To avoid biases toward any idiosyncrasy, we took two
photos of three separate confederate models.3 In one photograph, each
confederate model posed as her natural size. In the second photograph,
each confederate model posed wearing a professionally constructed obesity
prosthesis underneath her clothing, generating a Size 22 figure. In both
photos, the confederate model wore the same style clothing (different
sizes). To minimize any unnatural appearance as a result of wearing an
obesity prosthesis, we selected only models with round faces who looked
natural in the prosthesis. In addition, all models wore a turtleneck to
conceal their neck and a pantsuit concealing their arms and legs. Thus, one
of six photos was randomly assigned to each trainer.4
Experimental task. The training task was a computer Naval Air Defense
simulation in which participants command the actions of a U.S.
Naval carrier (see Holladay & Quin˜ones, 2003; Hollenbeck et al., 1997;
Quin˜ones, 1995). Participants had 1 min to evaluate the threat of oncoming
1 Research consistently has shown that women are judged and stigmatized
on the basis of weight and appearance more than are men (e.g.,
Fredrickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn, & Twenge, 1998; Jackson, 1992; Puhl
& Brownell, 2001; Roehling, 1999); thus, we decided to focus our investigation
on female targets only.
2 One participant in the role of the trainer accessed the properties screen
of the digital photograph, which indicated that the photograph had been
taken months prior to the actual experiment date. As a result, the participant
commented that the photograph could not actually be of the individual
with whom he was interacting. Because the participant was able to gain this
information regarding the photo, the data from that trainer–trainee pair
were excluded from the data set and all analyses.
3 The confederate model did not interact with any of the dependent
variables (all Fs  1), and thus all analyses collapse over confederate.
4 The stimuli used in the present study were identical to those used in a
previously published study examining the stigma of obesity. Thus, all
pretest procedures and results can be found in the original publication
(Hebl & Mannix, 2003). In addition, a manipulation check was conducted
at the end of the training interaction in the present study to verify that
trainers perceived a weight difference between the two sizes depicted in the
photographs. Participant trainers evaluated the weight of the individual
depicted in the photograph on a scale ranging from 1 (well below average
weight) to 7 (well above average weight/obese) with a midpoint of 4
(average). There was a main effect of weight such that participant trainers
in the obese trainee picture condition evaluated the weight of the trainee to
be higher (M
4.96, SD
0.98) than trainers in the average-weight
picture condition (M
4.29, SD
0.64), F(1, 42)
7.10, p
.01, 2

.15.