The Meaning of Size 95in Ghanaian and American students and reported that the Ghanaian
students rated larger bodies as closer to ideal and showed lower levels of
body dissatisfaction and dieting. Similarly, Rothblum (1990) reported
research findings from Latin America, Puerto Rico, China, and the Philippines
and argued that increased body weight is linked with wealth and health,
and Sobal and Stunkard (1989) have argued that obesity is a sign of high
status in poorer countries.
Why are the overweight and obese judged
so negatively in the West?A larger size triggers an association with a range of negative attributes, whereas
a thin body generates consistently positive associations. It has been argued
that obesity stereotypes are so negative because obesity is seen as a self-
inflicted state. In line with this, Lerner and Gellert (1969) concluded from
their study of children’s preferences that the children liked the overweight
child least because obesity was seen as the fault of the child and not some-
thing to sympathize with. It is assumed that the obese have brought their
size upon themselves through overeating, and some research has explored
the assumptions made about how the obese eat. For example, research has
shown that the obese are believed to eat to compensate for other problems
(Maimon et al., 1979) or are gluttonous (Maddox, Back, and Liederman,
1968), and that they are rated more negatively when they are described as
having lost weight compared to an obese person who is described as
having a medical condition (Dejong, 1980). Research has also examined
whether eating behavior per se results in negative stereotypes. Some writers
have argued that women are judged more positively if seen to eat lightly
rather than heavily in public, that “eating like a bird” is regarded as feminine
and desirable, and that the control of appetite is seen as virtuous in women
(Orbach, 1978; Wolf, 1990; Seid, 1994). Similarly, Mori, Chaiken, and Pliner
(1987) indicated that women try to eat less in public to project a more
feminine image, and Chaiken and Pliner (1987) concluded that eating lightly
does make others judge women as more feminine.
Therefore, like sex, size is associated with a range of personality and behav-
ioral traits, with a larger size triggering a complex and consistently negative
stereotype, and thinness triggering more positive associations. However, in
contrast to the characteristics inferred as a result of someone’s sex, which
is a biological given, size is associated with eating, which renders being over-
weight a self-inflicted state. Therefore, as being overweight is considered