Male Jurors More Likely to Convict Obese Females Than Slender Ones

A new study conducted by researchers at Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity reveals that male jurors were more likely to convict an obese female compared to a slender one even if both of them were accused of the same crime. The researchers conducted a test where 471 male mock jurors were presented with the details of a hypothetical case of check fraud involving four fake defendants, two males and two females.

The jurors were shown photographs of the defendants, with one male and one female defendants being obese and one male and one female being slender. The researchers found that male jurors were more likely to see obese females as “repeat offenders” with “awareness” of their crimes compared to slender females.

“According to research the prevalence of weight-based stigmatization is now on par with rates of racial discrimination. The present study identifies yet another setting in which obese persons are vulnerable to bias and discrimination”, lead researcher Natasha Schvey said.

Source-Medindia