Roles Of Sexual Objectification Research Articles

Body shame among Asian American college women: the roles of sexual objectification, internalized racism, and ethnic identity strength

ABSTRACT Informed by objectification theory’s tenet that sexual objectification and racism are powerful sociocultural forces that perniciously impact women of color’s mental health, the present study examined the longitudinal links of sexual objectification and three forms of internalized racism (i.e. self-negativity, weakness stereotype, appearance bias) with body shame among Asian American college women (N = 146). Ethnic identity strength, a theorized protective factor in body image literature, was examined as a moderator for the hypothesized longitudinal links. Results indicated that sexual objectification and self-negativity measured at Time 1 had significant and positive bivariate associations with body shame measured at Time 2. However, these variables no longer predicted body shame when body mass index (BMI) was included as a covariate. A significant interaction between appearance bias and ethnic identity strength emerged in predicting body shame. Specifically, high ethnic identity strength exacerbated the detrimental effect of appearance bias on Asian American women’s body shame, whereas low ethnic identity strength buffered this effect. This finding contradicts theoretical views of ethnic identity strength as a protective factor in women of color’s body image development. Practice implications and future research directions are discussed.

Sexual objectification as a predictor of sexual risk tolerance

HIV rates among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the US remain high. While risk is being redefined in the age of treatment as prevention, research is needed to better understand sexual behavior among MSM. Sexual objectification is implicated in risky behavior, but research involving MSM is limited. This study examined the role of sexual objectification on risk tolerance after controlling for HIV-related stigma. Results revealed sexual objectification is a significant predictor of sexual risk tolerance in sexual decision making. Condom use intentions were high. Findings illustrate the need to explore sexual objectification when working with MSM.

Unpacking body image concerns and disordered eating for transgender women: The roles of sexual objectification and minority stress.

Synthesizing both objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) and minority stress theory (Meyer, 2003), the present study used a pantheoretical model of dehumanization (Moradi, 2013) to examine body image concerns and disordered eating symptomatology with 205 transgender women from the United States. Objectification theory constructs (i.e., sexual objectification, internalization of sociocultural standards of attractiveness, body surveillance, body dissatisfaction) and minority stress-related variables (i.e., antitransgender discrimination) were examined as direct and indirect predictors of disordered eating. Results of a latent variable SEM (with a higher-order dehumanization factor comprised of sexual objectification and discrimination) generally provided support for our hypothesized direct and indirect relations. As expected, dehumanization was related directly to internalization and disordered eating and had significant indirect links to body surveillance, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating via internalization. Potential implications of a pantheoretical model for future research with transgender women are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Body dissatisfaction among gay men: The roles of sexual objectification, gay community involvement, and psychological sense of community.

Body dissatisfaction among gay men: The roles of sexual objectification, gay community involvement, and psychological sense of community.