Group identification, discrimination and psychological health in an obese sample

Obesity represents a serious health issue affecting millions of people in Western industrialized countries. The severity of the medical problems it causes is paralleled by the fact that obesity has become a social stigma, as in many cases it brings rejection and discrimination to the people who suffer it. Our study, in which 95 members of Spanish obesity associations participated, focused specifically on how group identification (Group Identification Scale), one of the strategies according to the Rejection-Identification Model that people have to deal with discrimination (Obesity-Related Problems Scale), is related to psychological health (Self-esteem, Life Satisfaction and Depression scales) in an obese sample. It was shown that discrimination is negatively linked with psychological health (low self-esteem and life satisfaction, and high depression) while group identification is positively correlated with psychological health (high self-esteem and life satisfaction, and low depression). Finally, the Rejection-Identification Model is tested with the obese sample.