Hubski,
What do you think of this criticism?
What does it mean to you, if a person cares too much about what others think? Is there a person or persons like that in your life? Tell us about them.
I would imagine that someone who cares too much what other people think would allow his or her beliefs about their opinions to influence their behavior. I would also think that they would do this in a way to make themselves fit in with a group, however. Like "I want them to like me so I'm going to act in this sort of way."
However, I sometimes feel that certain classes of people are forced to care more about what others think of them.
I think if you want to be perceived in a certain way, or to have a certain reputation - for instance, if you want someone to respect you as a good person - then you have to make sure you consistently act in that manner. Maybe that can seem like "caring too much what other people think," but there's a great value in a solid reputation. When your actions are unimpeachable, the random shit talk of - however - is powerless, because no one who knows you would believe it.
I wonder if sometimes this accusation is leveled against a given person(b) because the accuser wants to convince (b) to do something or act in a certain way, but doesn't have a valid argument for it.
I feel like this is a rather nebulous accusation. It might be accurate, or it's a statement that very easily lends itself towards manipulation. It can't really be defended against. It's abstract. What it really means is, "I don't like how much you care about others' opinions."
How much do you care about other people's opinions? I feel like this would be a varying scale. How much is too much - but we can certainly agree there is also such a thing as too little?