Approval seeking is a pattern of thoughts where all the decisions start with looking for what others - people, society - want. I will scan through all the information that is outside of myself and make the decision based on this information. The desired outcome of this pattern is that people will like me. Because when I am liked = I am a good person = I am allowed to feel good about myself also. But this means all the decisions I make are not what I actually want and it is easy to manipulate me.