What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine the motivations for and emotional consequences of using the term fat self-referentially in positive versus negative contexts.

August 15, 2026Fat Studies

Reappropriating Fat : the impact of labeling on self and others

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Authors

KIKaavya Iyer LMLuke Miller IOIan Conor O'Dowd

Discussion

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Overview

Survey study reveals positive self-labeling with the term fat increases positive affect in labelers and observers, suggesting linguistic reappropriation can reduce weight stigma.

Key Points

To examine the motivations for and emotional consequences of using the term fat self-referentially in positive versus negative contexts.
Surveyed individuals who positively use the term fat to describe themselves (N = 52) regarding their motivations and emotional experiences in Study 1.
Surveyed observers who witnessed others self-referentially use the term fat (N = 93) to evaluate their interpretations and affective reactions in Study 2.
Signaling comfort with one's body was the most frequently endorsed motivation for positive self-labeling across both cohorts.
Positive self-labeling was associated with significantly greater positive affect among both self-labelers and observers, whereas negative self-labeling corresponded to lower positive affect.
Observers correctly identified the directional affect of self-labelers but systematically overestimated the magnitude of the emotion.

Cite This Study

Iyer et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8019fe75c2e31742c86459 https://doi.org/10.1080/21604851.2026.2614184

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August 15, 2026Fat Studies

Reappropriating Fat : the impact of labeling on self and others

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

KIKaavya Iyer LMLuke Miller IOIan Conor O'Dowd

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Survey study reveals positive self-labeling with the term fat increases positive affect in labelers and observers, suggesting linguistic reappropriation can reduce weight stigma.

Key Points

To examine the motivations for and emotional consequences of using the term fat self-referentially in positive versus negative contexts.
Surveyed individuals who positively use the term fat to describe themselves (N = 52) regarding their motivations and emotional experiences in Study 1.
Surveyed observers who witnessed others self-referentially use the term fat (N = 93) to evaluate their interpretations and affective reactions in Study 2.
Signaling comfort with one's body was the most frequently endorsed motivation for positive self-labeling across both cohorts.
Positive self-labeling was associated with significantly greater positive affect among both self-labelers and observers, whereas negative self-labeling corresponded to lower positive affect.
Observers correctly identified the directional affect of self-labelers but systematically overestimated the magnitude of the emotion.

Cite This Study

Iyer et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8019fe75c2e31742c86459 https://doi.org/10.1080/21604851.2026.2614184

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