The injectable medication Ozempic (semaglutide) has demonstrated unprecedented effectiveness in promoting significant weight loss. However, its use has sparked moral debates, with critics dismissing it as a mere "shortcut" compared to traditional methods like diet and exercise. This study investigates how weight loss method-Ozempic, diet/exercise, or a combination of both-impacts perceptions of effort, praiseworthiness, and identity/value change. We used a contrastive vignette technique in two experiments (combined N = 1041, demographically representative for age, sex, and ethnicity) to study the attitudes of US participants toward a fictional character who lost 50 pounds through one of the three described methods. Weight loss through diet/exercise alone was deemed most effortful and most praiseworthy, whereas Ozempic use, even when combined with diet/exercise, was rated as both less effortful and less praiseworthy than diet/exercise alone. Ozempic use with no mention of diet/exercise was rated as least effortful and least praiseworthy. Compared to diet and exercise alone, Ozempic use also decreased perceptions that the individual had really changed as a person, or experienced a change in their underlying values. We discuss potential implications, address study limitations, and provide suggestions for further work.
GLP-1 Therapies