ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In order to approach in a multidisciplinary way obesity and eating disorders it is necessary to know the implicit theories of personality, the stereotypes, and the current stigmatization of overweight, as well as making the obese individual guilty by attributing his/her state to a "way of being". The objective was to know the perception that students and patients with eating disorders may have about obese people and analyze the differences that might exist between both groups. Setting, population, and interventions: we selected 138 students and 50 patients with anorexia or bulimia that assigned qualifying adjectives to obese people from a given list. RESULTS: We analyzed the most used adjectives and the corresponding personality scales by using the c2 test to determine the differences between the adjectives used and the scales in both samples. A p value < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant, using the SPSS software, v.13. Obese people were essentially qualified as introverted, inhibited, and cooperative. About the latter scale, we found differences due to the most frequent use of the terms "affectionate", "helping", "obliging", "dependent", and "obedient" by the patients. As a whole, there exists a negative perception of obese people. Among the most commonly used adjectives we may highlight: "excluded", "shy", "touchy", "anxious", "rejected", "insecure", and "passive", the latter being the most repeated one in both groups. The patients tend to preferentially choose some adjectives, which expresses a paradoxical fact: they seem to have a more lenient perception of obese people but they more often choose the terms "anxious", "solitary", "lazy", "lifeless", "dependent", "easily frightened", "lonely", "childish", or "impulsive". CONCLUSIONS: To know the perception of obesity is essential for the psycho-educative work and prevention of associated psychopathological impairments. In eating disorders obesity represents "the most feared" condition so knowing the underlying theories about obesity and overweight in these patients is essential for their management.
