Major believes that some of the approaches may actually lead to weight gain.

According to the research, which appears in the online issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, when women who perceive themselves as overweight are exposed to weight-stigmatizing news articles, they are less able to control their eating afterward than are women who don’t perceive themselves that way.

Using young women as their test subjects (because, as a group, young women are particularly vulnerable to issues related to weight stigma), the researchers asked half of the participants to read a mock article from The New York Times titled “Lose Weight or Lose Your Job.”

The other half read a similar article, “Quit Smoking or Lose Your Job.”

“The first article described all real things we found in the media about different kinds of stigma that overweight people are facing in the workplace,” said Major.

After reading the articles, participants were asked to describe them via video camera to someone who was unfamiliar with the content.

A 10-minute break followed, during which the women were ushered into another room and asked to wait for the next phase of the experiment to begin.

Available to them in that room were a variety of snacks, including M&Ms and Goldfish crackers.

The snacks were weighed beforehand, and every participant was offered the same type and amount, and remained in the room for the same amount of time.

【减肥信息可能会让减肥效果适得其反】相关文章：

★ 职场白领下班后做家务有害健康

★ 国产羽绒服在美卖疯了，纽约街头撞衫率爆表！加拿大鹅：我不要面子吗

★ 孕期减肥安全吗?

★ 百事可乐要直接用夜空打广告

★ 香肠和汉堡每年导致4000人死亡

★ 除了“熬夜党”和“早起鸟”，其实还有一种人是“午睡派”

★ 《饥饿游戏》前传小说明年出版 狮门计划拍成电影

★ 中国人更容易“密恐”？最新研究报告来了......

★ 男人主动献殷勤背后隐藏灾难

★ 像当地人一样吃饭：盘点10个国家的餐厅礼仪