That's the shocking result of a new study from Great Britain that exposes a dirty little secret most of us harbor: We have a fat phobia. It's not news that many people have a low opinion of someone who is overweight, but this study from the University of Liverpool shows just how deep the stigma runs: If you hang out with a fat friend, people are likely to think less of you.
These often unconscious negative attitudes have a profound effect on overweight people, who are less likely to get into college, less likely to get hired, and more likely to get fired.
Even though some two-thirds of Americans are considered overweight, discrimination against fat people is rampant. Sometimes it's subtle and unintentional. Other times, it's overt and cruel. "Weight stigma is powerful, pervasive, and destructive," Marlene Schwartz, a Yale psychologist, told The Associated Press.
The study: British psychologist Jason Halford tested the reactions of 144 female students to two prom photos. Photo No. 1 showed a good-looking, thin young man standing next to a svelte woman with striking ringlets. Photo No. 2 depicted the same man, but was altered to show him arm-in-arm with a beautifully dressed obese woman. The volunteers each got a quick look at just one of the photos and were then asked to describe their opinion of the man, rating him on the researchers' "fat phobia scale": A score of 1 to 5 on 50 negative adjectives that are often used to describe obese people.
The results: When the man was with the obese woman, he was rated 22 percent more negatively than when he was with the thin woman. As the date of the fat woman, he was more likely to be described as miserable, self-indulgent, passive, shapeless, depressed, weak, insignificant, and insecure. The students who were themselves overweight, were even more likely to rate the man harshly when he was pictured with the heavy woman. "It shows that people project negative attitudes associated with obesity not only on the obese but all those who associate with them," Halford explained to AP.
Yale University's Rebecca Puhl said bias against the large begins early in life--as young as preschool. Little children are more likely to describe overweight playmates as mean, ugly, or stupid. "Expressing negative attitudes toward obese people has become an acceptable form of bias," she told AP.
The study findings were presented to the North American Association for the Study of Obesity.
