Social Thinking

Social Thinking

PSY400

Social Thinking

Social thinking is about the world and how we judge, believe, attitudes, and view ourselves, and others. Physical appearances have been raised to a place of prominence in our society. Because I have been overweight most of my life I am more aware of how I am judged because of my weight. Society has become obsessed with outward appearances with the rise in plastic surgery as one example of how people try to keep young looking. On the other hand we have many more obese people than ever before. This seems to be a contradiction of views.

Judgment

Overweight people can make other people prejudicial in thinking an obese person is lazy, unintelligent, and unkempt. Judging an obese person this way can make him or her have a lower self-esteem. This leads to many obese people becoming more reclusive and avoiding social interactions. Having a lower self-esteem can lead to depression, drug abuse, an inability to have a high paying career, and even less interaction with others. My own experiences with obesity for most of my life led to my being more sexually promiscuous in an effort to be accepted.

"The society has its own stereotypes regarding the obesity relating it to pejorative terms like lack of will and control, overindulgence etc. The marginalization feeling and social exclusion due to the stereotypes linked to fat as well as the disease fear affect the couple relation" (Albu, 2011, p. 144).

The one thing being obese has taught me is not to be so quick to judge others. People are more complex than we realize, and there can be underlying issues people are not aware of that influence a particular situation. It is also hard to view my obesity as a negative in social situations because the term, pleasantly pump was used to describe me by those I was in relationships with. If they did not view it negatively then I saw no need to view that way, either.

Believe

Making a person believe he or she is not viewed negatively for being obese can change this person's outlook as well. Justifying obesity because of heredity is also one way of ignoring the issue. If a person believes it is in his or her genetic makeup then he or she is convinced it is out of his or her control. This makes an obese person bias in his or her belief that he or she views of the situation as being changeable. "Often our everyday failings are inconsequential, but not always so. False impressions, interpretations, and beliefs can produce serious consequences" (Myers, 2010, p. 118).

Attitudes

"Our attitudes do predict our behavior when these other influences on what we say and do are minimal, when the attitude is specific to the behavior, and when the attitude is potent" (Myers, 2010, p. 125). Having a negative attitude on obesity influences the person and those around him or her. If they obsess over it this may push people away from them and make them avoid social situations with this person. Behavior in making no effort to exercise or eat healthy may contribute to a negative attitude for an obese person.

Many behaviors are automatic we do certain actions without thinking about why we are doing them. We adjust our attitudes and behaviors to the situation having learned them previously from a similar or repetitive action. Having a self-serving belief that there is nothing wrong with being overweight because another person is attracted to he or she may cause that person to ignore that being overweight may cause health issues.

The private beliefs of an obese person may