Generally speaking, lean people have the advantage over people carrying a few extra pounds. But when it comes to generosity, corpulent people seem to be faring better compared to their thin counterparts based on a study carried out by German researchers.
To arrive at this conclusion, the researchers tested 20 fat men and 20 thin men using lab games where they offered people money. They performed a large set of economic games including trust game, ultimatum game and risk game under euglyacemic and hypoglycaemic conditions.
Their findings showed that during the ultimatum game, thin men made less fair decision and offered 16% less money compared to their chubbier counterparts. Meanwhile, participants of both weight groups accepted smaller amounts of money during hypoglycaemia, suggesting that lack of energy makes subjects to behave more like an “economic man”.
On the other hand, during the trust game, lean men gave as much money to fellow lean men compared to corpulent trustees during hypoglycemia.
They found that risk seeking behaviour did not differ for both weight groups.
The researchers concluded: “Our data show that economic decision-making is affected by both the body weight of the participants and the body weight of their opponents, and that blood glucose concentrations should be taken into consideration when analysing economic decision making.”
Research Claims that Fat People Have Lower IQ
A study carried out by French scientists suggests the link between obesity and the decline in person’s cognitive function.
According to lead author Dr. Maxime Cournot, hormones released from fats decrease brain function because of its damaging effect on cerebral cells.
“Another explanation could be that since obesity is a widely known cardiovascular risk factor, due to the thickening and hardening of the blood vessels, that the same happens with the arteries in the brain,” Dr. Cournot added.