Term of Award

Winter 2026

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Ryan Couillou

Committee Member 1

Lindsey Stone

Committee Member 2

Rebekah Estevez

Committee Member 3

Rebecca Pearl

Abstract

Existing literature has established cisgender gender differences in weight bias (WB) and internalized weight bias (IWB). Specifically, findings suggest cisgender men report greater WB than do cisgender women (e.g., Puhl et al., 2015), and cisgender women report greater IWB than do cisgender men (e.g., Himmelstein et al., 2017). Additionally, several studies have examined WB and IWB by cisgender gender identity and sexual orientation (e.g., Carels et al., 2022; Puhl et al., 2019; Shronrock et al., 2022); however, these studies have not always produced clear and consistent findings. Moreover, no studies have examined how additional disparities due to rurality status may relate to WB and IWB for sexual minority (SM) individuals. With individuals living in rural areas facing unique health disadvantages compared to individuals living in urban environments (Smalley et al., 2012), and this being exacerbated for SM individuals living in rural areas (Farmer et al., 2016), understanding how WB and IWB are experienced by SM individuals living in rural areas is warranted. Thus, the current study sought to examine the relationship between cisgender gender identity and WB and IWB among SM individuals, as well as to provide a better understanding of the role rurality may play in shaping weight-related attitudes and beliefs. Four hundred and eighteen cisgender adults completed an online survey consisting of measures for WB, IWB, sexual orientation, and rurality status. As hypothesized, results indicated sexual orientation moderated the relationship between cisgender gender identity and IWB. Contrary to expectations, sexual orientation did not moderate the relationship between cisgender gender identity and WB. Exploratory analyses revealed that rurality did not moderate the effects of sexual orientation on the link between cisgender gender identity and levels of WB or levels of IWB. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.

OCLC Number

1517961194

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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