Spanish version of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS): results from two samples of female university students / Versión española de la Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS): resultados correspondientes a dos muestras de estudiantes universitarias

Self-Objectification and its Biological, Psychological and Social Predictors: A Cross-Cultural Study in Four European Countries and Iran

Although scholars started investigating self-objectification more than twenty years ago, only a few studies focused on men and even fewer have taken into account the cross-cultural dimension. Our study focused on the antecedents of self-objectification paying attention to the role of biological and sociodemographic variables (gender, BMI), psychological characteristics (self-esteem, perfectionism) together with social and cultural factors (internalization of media standards, influence of family and friends). Self-objectification was operationalized as Body Shame and Body Surveillance. A self-reported questionnaire was administered to 2165 adults living in four European countries (UK, Italy, Poland and Romania) and Iran. Ten regression models were performed (2 per country) to analyse the correlates of self-objectification. Overall, self-objectification emerged as a process affected by factors entrenched in psychological, biological, social and cultural domains, partially different for Body Shame and Body Surveillance. Findings showed the key role of self-esteem as a protective factor against Body Shame across countries. On the other hand, the internalization of media standards emerged as risk factor for both Body Shame and Body Surveillance in the five countries. Taken together, these results underline the complexity of self-objectification and the need to deepen research on this topic among non-Western countries.

Adolescent Sexting: The Role of Body Shame, Social Physique Anxiety, and Social Networking Site Addiction

The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between body shame and participation in sexting among adolescents by examining the mediational roles of social physique anxiety and misuse of social networking sites (SNSs). Four hundred thirty-nine adolescents completed self-report measures for assessing their levels of body shame, social physique anxiety, SNS addiction symptoms, and sexting participation. Female adolescents reported higher scores in body shame, social physique anxiety, and SNS addiction symptoms, whereas male adolescents reported higher participation in sexting behaviors. In addition, gender did not moderate the relationship between body shame and higher sexting behaviors. Finally, the results showed an indirect (but not a direct) association between body shame and sexting behaviors through social physique anxiety and SNS addiction symptoms. These findings provide empirical evidence for the development of sexting prevention programs that are focused on body acceptance with the aim of reducing body shame, social physique anxiety, and SNS addiction.

Stranger Harassment ("Piropo") and Women's Self-Objectification: The Role of Anger, Happiness, and Empowerment

According to objectification theory, women's habitual exposure to sexually objectifying situations can lead them to internalize a third-person perspective of themselves in physical terms, leading women to adopt an observer's viewpoint of themselves as a body or collection of body parts that is valued principally for use or consumption by others (i.e., self-objectification). The frequency and/or intensity of situations of female objectification have generally been studied as precedents of self-objectification. Our research analyzes whether direct exposure to a particular objectifying situation, as in the case of verbal stranger harassment (called piropos in Spain), could have these same effects. We tested the consequences of exposure to piropos (vs. a control situation) on body surveillance and body shame in a sample of 329 Spanish women. The impact of verbal harassment on women's anger, anxiety, happiness, and sense of empowerment was also analyzed. The results of a moderated mediation analysis showed that exposure to piropos increased body shame through body surveillance but only in women who reacted to the piropo with happiness, empowerment, or low levels of anger. The negative effects that objectifying situations (e.g., stranger harassment) may have on women, and the importance of women's reactions and perceptions of such situations are discussed.

Psychometric Properties of the OBCS Body Shame Scale in a Sample of Female Residents in Puerto Rico

The purpose of this study is to analyze the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Body Shame scale within the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS) in a sample of women living in Puerto Rico. The sample consisted of 117 heterosexual women. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the structure of the scale and internal consistency was examined. Findings revealed that the 6-item Spanish version of the Body Shame scale shows better model-data fit than the original 8-item version. The results of the study support the use of the final 6-item version of the Body Shame scale in research and practice, given that it demonstrated appropriate structure and internal consistency. In conclusion, the findings support the use of the 6-item version of the Body Shame scale.

The Detrimental Effect of Sexual Objectification on Targets' and Perpetrators' Sexual Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Sexual Coercion

Sexual objectification is a variable to consider for understanding the sexual violence that takes place into intimate context. The set of studies presented here aims to connect sexual objectification phenomena with sexual coercion and explore the consequences that both have on sexual satisfaction. Two studies examined the association between sexual objectification and sexual satisfaction for both views: female target (Study 1) and male perpetrator (Study 2) perspectives. The results of the first study (n = 138 heterosexual women) demonstrated that perceiving partner objectification (but not reporting general sexual objectification victimization) is indirectly linked to a lower sexual satisfaction because of lower rejection and higher sexual coercion rates. The second study (n = 136 heterosexual men) showed the indirect effect of partner objectification and general sexual objectification perpetration on sexual satisfaction after sexual coercion perpetration. Results of both studies demonstrated the negative consequences that sexual objectification has on sexual satisfaction for both male perpetrators and female targets.

Focusing on one's own appearance leads to body shame in women but not men: The mediating role of body surveillance and appearance-contingent self-worth

Previous research has shown that some appearance-focused situations lead to increased self-objectification, especially among women. The present research explored, with an experimental design, whether the simple fact of thinking about one's own physical appearance increases body shame through body surveillance and appearance-contingent self-worth in men and women. Our main prediction was that focusing on one's own appearance would increase both women's body surveillance and appearance-contingent self-worth, and that both variables in turn would increase women's body shame. Among men, while we expected body surveillance and appearance-contingent self-worth to be related to body shame, we believed that thinking about their physical appearance would be less likely to increase their body surveillance and appearance-contingent self-worth. Spanish young men (n = 123) and women (n = 140) were randomly assigned to an appearance group, in which they wrote about their appearance, or a personality group, in which they wrote about their personality. The results confirmed our prediction for women. Among men, the indirect effects were not significant, and focusing on one's own appearance did not increase body surveillance or appearance-contingent self-worth. Since body shame has been associated with pervasive negative consequences, knowledge about its antecedents has practical and theoretical significance.