they found that when one’s friends gained weight, it increased that person’s own chances of becoming overweight by 57%! Why? Because our brains tell us it’s ok to reach for that 2nd doughnut as long as we don’t weigh much more than Monica or Brad! Our own weight gain doesn’t look so bad if our friends have put on a little themselves.
A particularly poignant example of the role that social comparisons play in weight gain involves pregnancy. Women’s bodies undergo an amazing transformation during pregnancy. As a woman carries a child, she naturally gains weight. This is hardly a surprise, she is eating for two afterall. But what we find really interesting is what happens to men’s bodies when their wives are pregnant.