Self-Objectification and Personal Values. An Exploratory Study

The relationship between personality traits and willingness to undergo cosmetic surgery in the non-clinical population - a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective

Conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesize previously obtained results regarding the relationship between interest in cosmetic surgery and personality traits.

Methodology

A series of criteria were applied (at the level of design, independent variables, dependent variable, participants) in order to decide which existing studies could be considered eligible for inclusion in the meta-analytic procedure. The identification of research that met the eligibility criteria was carried out with the help of the electronic search function in the following databases: ScienceDirect, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Scopus, Springer, and PubMed. Following this approach left 13 studies that were then subjected to the final analysis and included in the meta-analysis.

Results

The researchers' expectations were partially supported by the results of the analyses, thus demonstrating the existence of a significant relationship between perfectionism (socially prescribed perfectionism; perfectionistic self-promotion), appearance-based rejection sensitivity, and interest in pursuing esthetic surgery.

Discussions

Identifying these relationships will allow cosmetic surgeons to understand both the mechanisms underlying this decision and the need for psychological assessment/counseling before patients undergo such procedures. It will also allow psychologists to develop best practice guidelines for how they relate to the patient before they perform cosmetic surgery. At the same time, psychotherapists will be able to devise targeted and personalized interventions for each personality profile, so that the decision to undergo an esthetic operation is not made based on a dispositional trait (fear of rejection, stress caused by body dissatisfaction).

A bidirectional association between smartphone addiction and depression among college students: A cross-lagged panel model

Background

Smartphone addiction (SA) is associated with adverse consequences, especially for freshmen. Evidence indicates that SA is associated with depression, and it is necessary to conduct a longitudinal study to explore the association further.

Methods

SA (measured by the Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version) and depression (measured by the Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale) among 1,186 freshmen were surveyed at baseline and a respective 12-month follow-up for each participant. The application of a cross-lagged panel model approach (CLPM) revealed an association between SA and depression after adjusting for demographic variables.

Results

The CLPM results showed a significant path from baseline SA to follow-up depression (β = 0.08, P < 0.001) and a significant path from baseline depression to follow-up SA (β = 0.08, P < 0.001). Compared with the overall cross-lagged model, the cross-lagged coefficient of the path from baseline SA to follow-up depression increased in the female group (β = 0.10, P = 0.015), and the cross-lagged coefficient of the path from baseline depression to follow-up SA also increased significantly (β = 0.15, P < 0.001). In contrast, the cross-lagged model in the male group showed no predictive effect between SA and depression (P > 0.05).

Conclusions

The current study showed a significant bidirectional association between smartphone addiction and depression among freshmen, but only in the female population.

Women's Self-Objectification Under Competition When They Believe Sex Is Power

Competitions are ubiquitous and their psychological consequences for women have not received sufficient attention. For this research, we tested whether competition, in either work settings or a broader form of competition for resources, would interact with the sex is power belief to result in self-objectification among women. This prediction was confirmed by a series of studies (N = 1416), including correlational studies, a quasi-experiment, and fully controlled experiments, with samples including company employees, MBA students with work experience, college students currently competing in a job market, and Mechanical Turkers. Competition (or a sense of competition) as a feature of the working environment (Study 1), a real state in life (Study 2), or a temporarily activated state (Studies 3-5) resulted in self-objectification among women who believe sex is power (Study 1) or who enter such a mindset (Studies 2-5). This effect further impaired the pursuit of personal growth (Studies 4 and 5).

In the context of romantic attraction, beautification can increase assertiveness in women

Can beautification empower women to act assertively? Some women report that beautification is an agentic and assertive act, whereas others find beautification to be oppressive and disempowering. To disentangle these effects, in the context of romantic attraction we conducted the first experimental tests of beautification—on psychological and behavioral assertiveness. Experiment 1 (N = 145) utilized a between-subjects design in which women used their own clothing, make-up, and accessories to adjust their appearance as they normally would for a “hot date” (beautification condition) or a casual day at home with friends (control condition). We measured implicit, explicit, and behavioral assertiveness, as well as positive affect and sexual motivation. Experiment 2 (N = 40) sought to conceptually replicate Experiment 1 using a within-subject design and different measures of assertiveness. Women completed measures of explicit assertiveness and assertive behavioral intentions in three domains, in whatever clothing they were wearing that day then again after extensively beautifying their appearance. In Experiment 1, we found that women demonstrated higher psychological assertiveness after beautifying their appearance, and that high sexual motivation mediated the effect of beautification on assertive behavior. All effects were independent of positive affect. Experiment 2 partially replicated Experiment 1. These experiments provide novel insight into the effects of women’s appearance-enhancing behaviors on assertiveness by providing evidence that beautification may positively affect assertiveness in women under some circumstances.