Interpersonal Sexual Objectification, Fear of Rape, and U.S. College Women’s Depression

Abstract

In the present study, we extend prior research on objectification theory by integrating fear of rape into a mediation model predicting depression in college women. With a sample of 496 U.S. college women 18–37 years-old, we examined three aspects of fear of rape (taking rape precautions, safety concerns, and fear of men), along with body shame and appearance anxiety, as potential mediators in the linkage of interpersonal sexual objectification through body surveillance to depression. We found that sexual objectification was associated with more body surveillance, which in turn was related to more body shame, greater appearance anxiety, more rape precautions, greater safety concerns, and more fear of men. Body shame, appearance anxiety, and fear of men were related to more depression whereas taking rape precautions was related to less depression and safety concerns was not related to depression. Direct relations between sexual objectification and depression, body shame, and the three aspects of fear of rape also emerged. A majority of indirect effects was also significant. Our results suggest that women’s fear of rape is an additional explanatory variable in understanding how interpersonal sexual objectification is related to women’s mental health concerns.