Whose Gaze is More Objectifying? An Experimental Study of College Women’s State Self-Objectification, Body Shame, Negative Mood, and Body Dissatisfaction

Abstract

Objectification theory posits that women internalize males’ sexualizing gaze upon them and pay more attention to their appearance than to their feelings. To date, the literature has focused on the differences that males and females arouse in objectification experiences of women. In the current study, a tripartite comparison of the effects of self-gaze, female gaze, and male gaze upon women’s self-objectification, body dissatisfaction, body shame, appearance anxiety, and negative mood was made with Turkish college women. The study utilized a 3x2 repeated measures factorial design with six different imagined scenarios comprised of three types of gaze (self, female, and male) and two types of clothing (swimsuit, and sweater and jeans). All dependent variables were significantly affected by clothing type. Body shame, negative mood, appearance anxiety, and state SO were significantly affected by the type of gaze. Interaction effects were significant for body dissatisfaction and negative mood.