Attitudes toward obese individuals among psychology and medical students samples

Cilj istraživanja bio je ispitati izraženost i sadržaj stavova prema pretilim osobama kod studenata medicine i psihologije u Hrvatskoj. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 223 sudionika, studenata psihologije i medicine Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. U istraživanju su korištene eksplicitne metode – Skala uzroka pretilosti, Skala stavova prema pretilim osobama, Skala percepcije pretilih osoba i Skala imanentne i ultimativne pravde. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da studenti medicine i psihologije imaju blago pozitivne stavove prema pretilima, pri čemu studenti medicine iskazuju manje pozitivne stavove. Studenti medicine i psihologije imaju umjereno negativna vjerovanja o pretilim osobama, pri čemu studenti medicine imaju negativnija vjerovanja. Međutim, razlike u prosječnim procjenama ovisno o vrsti studija prestaju biti značajne ako kontroliramo varijablu spola sudionika. Na skali uzroka pretilosti ispitanici društvene i unutarnje uzroke smatraju odgovornima za pretilost, dok tjelesne uzroke ne smatraju odgovornima. Ispitanici koji ostvaruju visoke rezultate na skali unutarnjih ili društvenih uzroka imaju manje pozitivne stavove prema pretilima od ispitanika koji ostvaruju niske rezultate na tim skalama. Stavovi ispitanika prema pretilima ne razlikuju se ovisno o tome postižu li visok ili nizak rezultat na skali tjelesnih uzroka. Ispitanici koji postižu visoke rezultate na pojedinim skalama vjerovanja u pravedan svijet ne razlikuju se u svojim stavovima od ispitanika s niskim rezultatima na tim skalama. Dobiveni rezultati daju uvid u nedovoljno istražene spoznaje o predrasudi prema pretilima kod pomagačkih struka u Hrvatskoj te mogu biti korisne smjernice za programe smanjenja te predrasude.The aim of this study was to examine attitudes towards Overweight and Obesity in psychology and medical students samples in Croatia. The study included 223 participants – students of psychology and medical students at The University of Zagreb. The study used explicit methods - Causes of Obesity Scale, The Attitudes Toward Obese People Scale, Fat Phobia Scale and Belief in a Just World Scale. The results showed that students of medicine and psychology have a mildly positive attitudes towards obese, with medical students expressed less positive attitudes. Students of medicine and psychology have a moderately negative beliefs about obese, with medical students expressed more negative beliefs. On the Causes of Obesity Scale participants were more likely to agree that social and internal causes were to blame for overweight/obesity, and were more likely to disagree that physical causes were to blame for overweight/obesity. Students who achieve high score on a scale of internal causes have less positive attitudes towards obese than students who achieve low scores on this scale. Students who achieve high score on a scale of social causes have less positive attitudes towards obese than students who achieve low scores on this scale. Attitudes toward obese did not differ significantly between individuals who achieve high or low scoreon the scale of physical causes. Attitudes toward obese did not differ significantly between individuals who achieve high or low score on the scale of ultimate and immanent justice. The results provide an insight into the under-researched understanding of prejudice against obese among helping professions in Croatia and may provide useful guidelines for prejudice reduction