Re: [D] nrr: damn ...

[JonnyR]

I've worked on a lot of research papers, and I don't think their study was broad enough (hrmph, no pun intended) to make a claim that standing next to a fat person is bad for another person's image, in general. After all, don't some young women feel they look better if they're standing next to a heavier friend? The difference is that their experiment set up the thin young man in the role of the PARTNER of the heavy young woman (they were shown a prom dates). This is different from just standing next to a friend, as people do start projecting thoughts like, "what's he doing with HER? Can't he get a hotter girl? Why is he into fat chicks?" and other judgmental questions. So I do think the study's conclusions sound valid when talking about perception of one's partner, but not in other situations.