Dogs make us appear more attractive, more desirable, less threatening and more likable. Is there anything they can’t do in terms of making us more appealing? Sadly, there is. Though dogs enhance perceptions of a range of people in many different settings, a recent study found no evidence that they counteract negative attitudes about people who are overweight.
People who are overweight suffer some of the most severe bias in society. Studies have found that children prefer people who are in wheelchairs, have crutches, are missing limbs and those with facial disfigurements to people who are overweight. The extreme pervasiveness of the bias against overweight people reveals a need to develop methods to counteract it. Because dogs positively enhance perceptions of people as diverse as psychotherapists, police officers, and prospective romantic partners, they are an obvious choice as a potential way to counteract the bias against overweight people.
via Whisker Therapy