Ordinary People Thinking about What Emotional Issues Obesity Might Trigger: A Mind Genomics Cartography

Abstract

107 respondents each evaluated 60 unique vignettes (combinations of two, three or four messages), dealing with descriptions of how a person with obesity might feel. The respondent rated each vignette on degree to which the vignette would provoke a feeling of ‘cannot deal with it’ (viz., strong anxiety). Deconstruction of the responses to the full set of 36 messages on a respondent-respondent basis revealed that two specific messages provoked the highest degree of anxiety; you believe that the food industry will work to help you find the right foods to eat and you just can’t control the eating. Substantial differences emerged for age, and for the location where anxiety might be experienced (e.g., while listening to music.). Clustering the 107 respondents into mind-sets, groups with different points of view, revealed three radically different group, based on the elements which drive anxiety: MS1 – Anxiety about acceptance by others; MS 2 – Anxiety when thinking about professional help; MS3 – Anxiety about helplessness and being out of control.