The Objectification Spillover Effect: Why and How objectifying a Woman Affects Other Women

Abstract

Research suggests that objectification involves perceiving a woman as an object rather than as a human being and that focusing on a woman's appearance reduces perceptions of her humanness. However, the effect of such objectification on other women is under-examined. We bridge the objectification with social attractiveness and cognitive psychology literatures to theorize on how objectification of a woman influences perceptions about other women, suggesting a spillover effect. Across 4 studies, we found that objectification of women spills over and influences perceptions of other professional successful women, and this effect depends on the physical attractiveness of those women and the gender of the evaluator. Together, these findings are the first to establish an objectification spillover effect for successful professional women.