UO researchers are looking for research subjects willing to volunteer for a study about discrimination due to larger body size.

The study is being led by Nichole Kelly and Elizabeth Budd, both assistant professors in the College of Education. It aims to better understand the experiences of people who have been subjected to discrimination, stigma or unfair treatment in workplaces due to their larger body size.

Kelly and Budd’s work centers on health promotion, and they felt failing to address the pervasiveness of discrimination due to body size would be to neglect an important factor affecting people’s health.

“There is a great deal of research linking weight stigma and discrimination to worse health outcomes, including depressive symptoms, disordered eating, physical activity avoidance, weight gain and exacerbated health functioning,” Kelly said. “Our ultimate goal is to create a workshop to reduce weight bias that could be delivered in workplaces all over the country.”

Participation in the survey will inform the creation of such a workshop.

To be eligible for the survey, participants must be at least 18 years old, be fluent in English and have experienced discrimination, stigma or unfair treatment at work because of larger body size.

Participants will be asked to complete a 20-30 minute online survey and will receive a $10 Amazon gift card. Participation is confidential and no identifying information will be collected. An opportunity will be available to participate in a follow-up interview with a staff member of the study for an additional $10 Amazon gift card.

To learn more about how to participate, contact study staff at 541-321-8051 or via email at stigmastudy@uoregon.edu.