fatAre you fat? If so, guess what? You might be neurotic, too! A boatload of new research is building a case around the conclusion that obesity may well be linked to specific personality traits, according to the Wall Street Journal. One recent study found that people who are more neurotic (prone to negative emotions) and not very conscientious (disorganized, undisciplined) are more likely to be overweight or obese.

In fact, the Journal names particular personality types that tend toward weight gain: The Night Owl, The Stress Junkie, The Mindless Multitasker, The Giver, The Perfectionist.

People who fit into these categories may eat more without realizing it, because their behavior tricks their bodies into hunger or screws up their metabolism, or because they find it soothing -- not because they are genuinely hungry.

Findings like this, while interesting, are also sort of infuriating, don't you think? They add insult to injury: You're not only fat -- you're neurotic, too! (And disorganized, and a bad sleeper, and a doormat, and addicted to stress, and ...) It kind of reminds me of that finding from a while back that people who get eaten alive by mosquitoes while the person next to them suffers nary a bite may well be more attractive to mosquitoes because of their body odor -- and in particular because of their foot smell. Sheesh -- you're itchy and you're smelly. How fair is that? It was so much nicer when we human mosquito magnets could tell people it was because we had "sweet blood."

These studies similarly throw the "pleasantly plump" image right out the window. They're enough to make overweight people not just neurotic, but paranoid, too.

What do you think about the link between obesity and personality type?

 

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