Obesity is understood as a major medical and public health challenge, but the stigma attached to it also
creates extraordinary suffering. The pervasiveness of morally negative views toward the overweight and
obese, such as laziness and lack of self-control, are undeniable in mainstream U.S. society, situated both
institutionally (such as health care barriers or media stereotypes) and interpersonally (such as the
negative comments of others). To test basic pathways related to the etiology of women’s vulnerability to
feeling “fat-stigma” in interpersonal relationships, we present a study conducted between August and
November 2009 that combines social network, anthropometric, body image, and interview data for 112
women aged 18e45 years, living in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., and linked follow-up interviews with 823 of
their social ties. Based on the proposition that some social network characteristics should amplify the
personal experience of stigma, and others should ameliorate it, we ask: what relationship qualities make
women more sensitive to the judgments of others about their weight? We find that what others say
about women has only a very limited influence on how women judge others’ negative views of their
weight once actual body size is taken into account, but that women are more influenced by the opinions
of those they are closer to and interact with more often. Ultimately, the degree to which women perceive
themselves to be judged by others regarding their weight is not well explained by the actual opinions of
people in their networks, either known or unknown to them. The assumption that social network norms
exert considerable influence on people’s stigma experiences needs to be carefully evaluated, at least in
the domain of overweight and obesity.