Interventions to Reduce Implicit Weight Bias: A Focus on Mechanisms and Individual Differences

Implicit weight bias-an automatic negative evaluation of individuals with higher weight-is pervasive in society. Intervention efforts to reduce implicit weight bias have been sparse and rarely successful. However, a recent set of studies by Lai and Le Forestier (2025) found supportive evidence for successful modification of weight bias by testing a variety of mechanistic, theoretically grounded interventions based on procedures already shown to be effective in reducing implicit racial bias. In the present study, which extends that work, 1,305 adult participants completed a Weight Implicit Association Test before and after one of five online interventions or a control condition. Four of the five interventions tested yielded reductions in bias, compared to the control condition. We also adopted an inductive, data-driven approach to assess individual differences in response: Results demonstrated that interventions may be particularly impactful to the extent that individuals are optimally matched with procedures that suit their personal characteristics. Overall, this work provides additional evidence for the overall efficacy of interventions that are directed toward the known social cognitive mechanisms of implicit bias and reveals avenues for future research into moderators of intervention outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).