The Roles of Identity-Affirming Behaviors and Self-Efficacy in Coping With Weight Stigma in the Workplace: A Social Cognitive Perspective

Although weight stigma frequently occurs in work settings, its impact on larger-bodied workers’ vocational experiences and occupational well-being has received limited attention. We adapted the social cognitive career self-management (CSM) model to study larger-bodied workers’ coping with weight stigma in the workplace. Measures of body acceptance coping behavior and coping self-efficacy were constructed and subjected to exploratory factor analysis in a subsample of adult workers in larger bodies (n = 250). Both measures yielded factors reflecting cognitive-emotional self-acceptance and behavioral self-assertion elements. A confirmatory factor analysis with another subsample (n = 377) found support for bifactor representations of coping behavior and self-efficacy. A latent variable path analysis found that the CSM model provided good fit to the data and accounted for substantial amounts of the variance in work engagement, career satisfaction, satisfaction with coping efforts, and organizational commitment. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.