The Disruptive Effect of Self-Objectification on Performance

Sexualized Avatars Lead to Women’s Self-Objectification and Acceptance of Rape Myths

Research has indicated that many video games and virtual worlds are populated by unrealistic, hypersexualized representations of women, but the effects of using these representations remain understudied. Objectification theory suggests that women’s exposure to sexualized media representations leads to self-objectification. Further, we anticipated this process would lead to increases in rape myth acceptance (RMA). Two experiments (Study 1, N = 87; Study 2, N = 81) examined the effects of avatar features on women’s experiences of self-objectification. In both studies, college women exposed to sexualized avatars experienced higher levels of self-objectification after the virtual experience than those exposed to nonsexualized avatars. Furthermore, in Study 2, self-objectification mediated the relationship between controlling a sexualized avatar and subsequent levels of RMA. We discuss the implications of women using sexualized avatars in video games and virtual environments, which may lead to negative attitudes about the self and other women off-line due to heightened self-objectification. Additional online materials for this article are available to PWQ subscribers on PWQ's website at http://pwq.sagepub.com/supplemental .

Contextualizing the “Student Body”

Research on teens’ body dissatisfaction documents the role of proximal social influences (e.g., peers and family) and distal social influences (e.g., mass media) but largely ignores intermediate contextual factors such as school environment. Is there a link between individual body image and student body? We assessed drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, and body objectification in an ethnically diverse sample of 1,536 female students educated in U.S. school districts varying in the degree to which younger students (fifth and sixth graders) are educated alongside older students (seventh and eighth graders). We studied three different grade groupings: junior high (Grades K–6 housed together/Grades 7–8 housed together), middle school (K–5/6–8), and extended middle school (K–4/5–8). As predicted, fifth and sixth graders attending schools with older students reported more negative body experiences than their age peers attending schools with younger students; similar effects were evident among seventh graders who had been educated with older peers during fifth and sixth grade. Our findings highlight the importance of considering contextual factors in understanding young women’s body image.

Emphasizing appearance versus health outcomes in exercise: the influence of the instructor and participants' reasons for exercise

The objectifying nature of exercise environments may prevent women from reaping psychological benefits of exercise. The present experiment manipulated self-objectification through an exercise class taught by an instructor who emphasized exercise as either a means of acquiring appearance or health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to test for interactions between the class emphasis and participants' reasons for exercise (i.e., appearance, health) predicting participants' state self-objectification, state social physique anxiety, exercise class enjoyment, and future intentions of returning to a similar exercise class. Results, obtained via pre- and post-exercise questionnaires, revealed a significant interaction between class emphasis and health reasons for exercise predicting state self-objectification. Participants with lower health reasons for exercise reported greater state self-objectification in the appearance-focused class compared to those with higher health reasons for exercise. Adopting stronger health reasons for exercise may buffer exercise participants from the more objectifying aspects of the group exercise environment.

She Stoops to Conquer? How Posture Interacts With Self-Objectification and Status to Impact Women’s Affect and Performance

Research suggests that posture exerts powerful affective and cognitive influences, although recent studies have indicated that these embodiment effects are moderated by gender. We examined two sociocultural factors that may contribute to the effects of postural feedback in women: self-objectification and power. Across a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design, 80 female undergraduates completed various cognitive tasks and self-report measures after having been in an upright or slouched posture, seated in either a (powerful) throne or child’s chair, and wearing either a formfitting (objectifying) tank top or loose sweatshirt. The results showed that posture had the predicted influence on mood, with those seated upright reporting more positive mood than those seated in a slouched position. For the cognitive tasks, our findings were more complex and, due to low power, are best considered preliminary. Participants who were seated upright in a child’s chair while wearing a sweatshirt attempted the highest number of math items compared to those in the other conditions, supporting our prediction that postural benefits would be greatest in a context where power cues were gender-appropriate and self-objectification effects were attenuated. On a measure of satisfaction with performance, our findings suggest that self-objectification outweighed the power manipulation, leading to poorer outcomes when a seated position emphasized sexualized features of the body. Taken together, our results suggest that embodiment effects appear to be impacted by contextual cues, perhaps particularly for women.

Worth the Weight

Although the negative ramifications of others objectifying the female body are well established, little research has examined whether certain portrayals of women are more susceptible to being objectified. The present study sought to examine the effect of two target characteristics—body size and clothing style—on objectification. One hundred and ninety-one Australian undergraduate participants (95 female; Mage = 19.35 years) viewed either an image of an overweight woman or a thin woman, who was either dressed in plain clothes or lingerie. Participants then completed three tasks measuring their objectification of the woman to include attributions of mind, attributions of moral status, and a dot probe task assessing attention towards the target’s body relative to the face. Results indicate that overweight women, as well as those dressed in plain clothing, were attributed more agentic mental states and moral value, as well as elicited less of the objectifying gaze, than thin targets and those wearing lingerie. These findings suggest that contrary to popular opinion, there may be unforeseen benefits of being overweight.

Motivational dynamics of eating regulation: a self-determination theory perspective

Within Western society, many people have difficulties adequately regulating their eating behaviors and weight. Although the literature on eating regulation is vast, little attention has been given to motivational dynamics involved in eating regulation. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the present contribution aims to provide a motivational perspective on eating regulation. The role of satisfaction and thwarting of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is introduced as a mechanism to (a) explain the etiology of body image concerns and disordered eating and (b) understand the optimal regulation of ongoing eating behavior for healthy weight maintenance. An overview of empirical studies on these two research lines is provided. In a final section, the potential relevance and value of SDT in relation to prevailing theoretical models in the domain of eating regulation is discussed. Although research on SDT in the domain of eating regulation is still in its early stages and more research is clearly needed, this review suggests that the SDT represents a promising framework to more thoroughly study and understand the motivational processes involved in eating regulation and associated problems.

Contingencies of Self-Worth and Appearance Concerns

Heightened body surveillance can have negative effects on physical and psychological well-being, but little is known about the factors that contribute to this chronic surveillance. The authors tested a model that examined whether staking self-worth in certain domains was associated with decreased or increased body surveillance and appearance satisfaction in a sample of 115 Black and 222 White college women. Results indicated that investing self-worth in appearance and approval from others was associated with increased body surveillance and reduced appearance satisfaction whereas self-worth based in academic competence, God’s love, and family support was associated with less body surveillance and more appearance satisfaction. Tests of racial differences revealed that our model operated similarly across race. However, the structural paths of appearance contingency to body surveillance, academic competence contingency to body surveillance, and family support contingency to appearance satisfaction were stronger for White than Black women. This work outlines potential strategies to counteract body surveillance and appearance dissatisfaction by emphasizing domains of self-worth that are not appearance based and are staked in love and support. Implications of these findings for building positive body esteem and reducing disordered eating symptomatology are also discussed.

Body Guilt

Two studies investigated body guilt (i.e., feeling regret and remorse over how the body looks and a desire for reparative action to “fix” the body) within the framework of objectification theory among predominantly White British undergraduate women. In Study 1 ( N = 225), participants completed self-report measures of interpersonal sexual objectification, self-surveillance, body shame, body guilt, and eating restraint. Path analyses indicated support for the inclusion of body guilt in the objectification model, with body shame and body guilt fully mediating the relationship between self-surveillance and eating restraint. In Study 2 ( N = 85), participants reported higher body guilt, self-surveillance, body shame, and eating restraint when self-objectification was situationally activated, compared to the activation of body empowerment or a neutral condition. Path analyses in the second study replicated the objectification model from Study 1 with a state measure of self-objectification. These findings suggest that women also feel guilt (in addition to shame) about their bodies when attention is directed toward their physical appearance and wish to “correct” their body via disordered eating. Acknowledging women’s feelings of guilt in relation to not meeting restrictive beauty standards furthers our understanding of women’s experience of objectification and provides an additional target for reducing women’s mental health risks.

Social psychological theories of disordered eating in college women: review and integration

Because peer interaction, weight/shape, and self-concept formation are particularly salient to college women, the implications of social psychological theories may be especially far-reaching during the college years. College women may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of social comparison, objectification, and uses and gratifications theories, which describe social-cognitive mechanisms that provide an individual with information regarding her own view of her body and how she perceives that others perceive her body. The current paper will review and integrate findings related to these three theories of disordered eating in college women in an effort to present a more comprehensive understanding of the social psychological mechanisms that play a role in the development and maintenance of such pathology for this group of young women. Limitations of and future directions for research on these theories will be discussed, as will their potential integration with other factors that contribute to disordered eating and implications for treatment and prevention.

Self- and Partner-objectification in Romantic Relationships: Associations with Media Consumption and Relationship Satisfaction

Few studies have examined objectification in the context of romantic relationships, even though strong theoretical arguments have often made this connection. This study addresses this gap in the literature by examining whether exposure to mass media is related to self-objectification and objectification of one’s partner, which in turn is hypothesized to be related to relationship and sexual satisfaction. A sample of undergraduate students (91 women and 68 men) enrolled in a university on the west coast of the United States completed self-report measures of the following variables: self-objectification, objectification of one’s romantic partner, relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and exposure to objectifying media. Men reported higher levels of partner objectification than did women; there was no gender difference in self-objectification. Self- and partner-objectification were positively correlated; this correlation was especially strong for men. In regression analyses, partner-objectification was predictive of lower levels of relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, a path model revealed that consuming objectifying media is related to lowered relationship satisfaction through the variable of partner-objectification. Finally, self- and partner-objectification were related to lower levels of sexual satisfaction among men. This study provides evidence for the negative effects of objectification in the context of romantic relationships among young adults.

When What You See Is What You Get

This research examined the effects of the objectifying gaze on math performance, interaction motivation, body surveillance, body shame, and body dissatisfaction. In an experiment, undergraduate participants (67 women and 83 men) received an objectifying gaze during an interaction with a trained confederate of the other sex. As hypothesized, the objectifying gaze caused decrements in women’s math performance but not men’s. Interestingly, the objectifying gaze also increased women’s, but not men’s, motivation to engage in subsequent interactions with their partner. Finally, the objectifying gaze did not influence body surveillance, body shame, or body dissatisfaction for women or men. One explanation for the math performance and interaction motivation findings is stereotype threat. To the degree that the objectifying gaze arouses stereotype threat, math performance may decrease because it conveys that women’s looks are valued over their other qualities. Furthermore, interaction motivation may increase because stereotype threat arouses belonging uncertainty or concerns about social connections. As a result, the objectifying gaze may trigger a vicious cycle in which women underperform but continue to interact with the people who led them to underperform in the first place. Implications for long-term consequences of the objectifying gaze and directions for future research are discussed.

Objectification Theory: Areas of Promise and Refinement

This article elaborates on three themes related to Szymanski, Moffitt, and Carr’s major contribution aims. First, the article describes the promise of objectification theory as a grounding framework in research and practice, outlining how this theory integrates key aspects of several other important theoretical models. Second, this article suggests areas for theoretical refinement and clarification related to the conceptualization and operationalization of self-objectification, sexually objectifying environments, and the mechanisms linking sexual objectification with substance use. Third, this article offers considerations regarding the state of objectification theory—based intervention recommendations. The article concludes with a discussion of potential roles of counseling psychologists in advancing research, practice, and advocacy informed by objectification theory.

Oppressive Beliefs at Play: Associations among Beauty Ideals and Practices and Individual Differences in Sexism, Objectification of Others, and Media Exposure

In recent years, beauty ideals and practices have been explained almost exclusively using evolutionary psychological frameworks, to the exclusion of more proximate factors such as psychosocial and individual psychological variables. To overcome this limitation, we examined the associations among sexist beliefs, objectification of others, media exposure, and three distinct beauty ideals or practices. Across three studies, a total of 1,158 participants in a British community sample completed a series of scales that measured their attitudes toward women, hostility toward women, benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, their tendency to objectify others, media exposure, and endorsement of the thin ideal and (for women) body dissatisfaction (Study 1); height preferences in an other-sex partner (Study 2); and endorsement of cosmetic use (Study 3). Across the three studies, results supported the idea that sexist beliefs predicted beauty ideals and practices, although the strength of these associations varied according to the ideal or practice in question. These results support feminist critiques that beauty ideals and practices in Western societies are linked with sexist attitudes. Furthermore, our results suggest that programmes aimed to reduce or eliminate sexist attitudes, or that promote more gender egalitarian attitudes, may result in healthier beauty ideals and practices.

Interacting like a body: objectification can lead women to narrow their presence in social interactions

The present experiment tested the impact of sexual objectification on women's behavior in social interactions. We predicted that when objectified, women would narrow their social presence by spending little time talking, particularly when interacting with men. Participants (males and females) gave an oral introduction of themselves to an alleged interaction partner (male or female). Objectification was manipulated by having participants believe their bodies were either visually inspected or not inspected during this introduction. Specifically, participants introduced themselves through a closed-circuit device in one of three conditions: body (videotaped from the neck down), face (videotaped from the neck up), or audio (no videotaping). Women who were in the body condition and thought they were interacting with men spent less time talking than participants in all other groups. In addition, the majority of women disliked the body condition, indicating that they found having their bodies gazed at aversive. Implications for women's behavior in mixed-sex contexts are discussed.

Complimentary Weightism: The Potential Costs of Appearance-Related Commentary for Women's Self-Objectification

Little is known about the effects of receiving compliments about appearance. An ethnically diverse sample of 220 college women completed self-report measures of appearance commentary, trait self-objectification, body surveillance, and body dissatisfaction. Results indicated that the impact of appearance criticisms and compliments, but not their frequency, predicted higher body surveillance and more body dissatisfaction. Moderated mediation analyses indicated that increased body surveillance partially explained the relationship between feelings about appearance comments and body dissatisfaction and that this effect was moderated by level of trait self-objectification. Higher self-objectifying women reported higher levels of body surveillance and more body dissatisfaction regardless of whether they felt positively or negatively about the appearance comments, whereas lower self-objectifying women were less stable in their reports. Importantly, all women reported higher body surveillance and more body dissatisfaction in association with feeling good about receiving appearance compliments, which supports the idea of complimentary weightism, whereby appearance compliments represent a seemingly innocuous type of interpersonal feedback that may have detrimental consequences for women's self-objectification and body image.

Objectification Theory and Psychology of Women: A Decade of Advances and Future Directions

Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) proposed objectification theory as an integrative framework for understanding how women's socialization and experiences of sexual objectification are translated into mental health problems. This article reviews the past decade of research grounded in objectification theory and highlights needed directions for future scholarship in this area. Specifically, this article reviews research organized according to the following themes: (a) self-objectification and its proposed consequences, (b) sexual objectification experiences as a proposed precursor, and (c) disconnections from bodily functions. An overview of emerging objectification theory research with men is also provided. The review concludes with needed directions for future theoretical and research efforts aimed to advance the psychology of women.

Effect of Environment and Appearance Compliment on College Women's Self-Objectification, Mood, Body Shame, and Cognitive Performance

Objectification theory contends that women self-objectify as a result of internalizing an external observer's perspective of their physical selves. Self-objectification has been examined as both a stable enduring trait and as a context dependant state. The present study attempted to trigger state self-objectification by relatively subtle manipulation of the immediate physical and social environment. Participants were 96 female undergraduate students who completed questionnaire measures and cognitive tasks in a 2 (a subtle objectifying environment versus a standard environment) x 2 (an appearance compliment versus no comment) x 2 (high versus low trait self-objectification) design. It was found that, for women high on trait self-objectification, the objectifying physical environment enhanced state self-objectification, and the appearance compliment enhanced body shame. The findings demonstrate that subtle situational factors not requiring women to explicitly focus attention on their own bodies can elicit self-objectification and its proposed consequences, particularly among women high in trait self-objectification.

Self-Objectification and Well-Being in Women's Daily Lives

Laboratory experiments and surveys show that self-objectification increases body shame, disrupts attention, and negatively predicts well-being. Using experience sampling methodology, the authors investigated self-objectification in the daily lives of 49 female college students. Building on the predictions of objectification theory, they examined associations between internalizing an observer's perspective on the self and psychological well-being, and examined the moderating roles of trait self-esteem and appearance-contingent self-worth. Within-person increases in self-objectification predicted decreased well-being, but this association was moderated by trait self-esteem and trait appearance-contingent self-worth; high self-esteem, highly appearance-contingent participants reported increased well-being when they self-objectified. Furthermore, perceived unattractiveness partially mediated the main effect and the three-way interaction: high self-esteem, highly contingent participants experienced smaller drops in well-being when they self-objectified, in part because they felt less unattractive. These results suggest that in daily life, some women receive a boost from self-objectification, although most women experience decreases in well-being when self-objectifying.