Do you feel perceived as a full human being when you are treated as a body? The consequences for women’s emotional reactions, interpersonal perceptions and relationships

Sexual objectification and dehumanization theories have received little empirical attention on two specific aspects. First, research on interpersonal manifestations of sexual objectification remains limited and provides little information about the consequences of objectifying behaviors on women’s perceptions, namely, on how they believe to be perceived by others. Second, in the field of dehumanization, the study of dehumanizing perceptions from the victims’ point of view, namely metadehumanization, as well as its consequences has long been neglected. Thus, in order to fill these gaps, the present thesis aims to investigate the consequences of sexual objectification when occurring in interpersonal contexts on women’s perceptions of being treated as full human beings (i.e., metadehumanization). We also study the impact of sexual objectification, via metadehumanization, on various consequences such as emotional reactions, interpersonal perceptions and relationships.(PSYE - Sciences psychologiques et de l'éducation) -- UCL, 202

Sex-based and beauty-based objectification: Metadehumanization and emotional consequences among victims

We investigated how two forms of objectification (i.e., sex- and beauty-based objectification) relate to metadehumanization (i.e., the perception of being dehumanized) and emotional consequences for victims. Capitalizing on previous research, we hypothesized that sex-based objectification would induce animalistic metadehumanization and that beauty-based objectification would induce mechanistic metadehumanization. Our four studies showed that sex-based objectification elicits stronger mechanistic metadehumanization than beauty-based objectification, which also elicits higher mechanistic metadehumanization than non-objectifying control condition. Unexpectedly, animalistic metadehumanization did not vary across conditions. These findings suggest that, consistent with the social metaphor, objectified women feel mechanistically dehumanized, independently of the objectification type faced. Sex- and beauty-based objectifications also elicit more anger but less sadness than the control condition. However, only sex-based objectification increases guilt feelings. The general discussion contrasts perpetrators' vision of objectified women to women's own experience of objectification

My Physical Appearance at the Center of Others’ Concerns: What are the Consequences for Women’s Metadehumanization and Emotions?

Despite the frequency of women’s exposure to sexually objectifying behaviors in their daily life (e.g., through comments on their appearance, gazing or touching), no previous work has investigated how such a focus on their physical appearance influences women’s meta-perceptions. Capitalizing on recent studies showing that sexually objectified women are dehumanized by both male and female participants, the present paper investigates women’s metadehumanization (i.e., their perceptions of being viewed as less than fully human) and its emotional consequences following interpersonal sexual objectification. In three studies, we showed that when an interaction partner focuses on their physical appearance, women report higher levels of metadehumanization, as well as increased anger and sadness, than when the partner focuses on non-physical parts. Theoretical and empirical contributions of the present findings are discussed

Stereotype-Consistent Recall: From Subtle Gender Cues to Autobiographical Memory Biases

International audienceIntegrating research on stereotype priming and reconstructive memory, we hypothesized that the exposureto gender-related cues influences autobiographicalrecall. We showed that the more participants had stereotyped associations the more they reported stereotype-consistent memories following the exposition togender-related cues

Examining the role of fundamental psychological needs in the development of metadehumanization: A multi-population approach

In the present paper, we investigate dehumanization processes from a victim perspective. We propose that dehumanization experiences, i.e. metadehumanization, arise from people’s feelings that their fundamental human needs are thwarted and that such experiences influence their emotions, self-esteem, and coping strategies. Our model is put at test in three contexts involving different types of dehumanization victims: Women (Study 1a, N = 349), patients with severe alcohol use disorder (Study 1b, N = 120), andemployees in organizations (Study 1c, N = 347). Our integrated model of metadehumanization, which considers both its antecedents and consequences, proved stable across contexts and populations and therefore helps building bridges between different psychological disciplines in which dehumanization occurs

Suicidal ideations and self-dehumanization in recently detoxified patients with severe alcohol use disorder: an experimental exploration through joint explicit-implicit measures

Background Metadehumanization (the feeling of being considered as less than human by others) is a pervasive phenomenon in psychiatric states, notably promoting self-dehumanization and suicide antecedents. However, its role in suicidal ideations among patients with addictive disorders remains unexplored. We thus investigated the involvement of metadehumanization/self-dehumanization in suicidal ideations and suicidal thoughts interference in severe alcohol use disorder. Methods We measured metadehumanization, suicidal ideations, and desire for social contact through questionnaires among 35 recently detoxified patients with severe alcohol use disorder (26 males). We measured animalistic/mechanistic self-dehumanization using an Implicit Association Task, and suicidal thoughts interference using a Stroop Task with suicide-related words. We performed regression analyses while controlling for depression/anxiety. Results Animalistic self-dehumanization was positively associated with suicidal thoughts interference and with decreased desire for social interactions, such link being absent for metadehumanization or mechanistic self-dehumanization. Conclusions This link between self-dehumanization and suicide-related factors suggests that a reduced sense of belonging to humanity is associated with self-harm antecedents. Results also emphasize the importance of using indirect measures to investigate sensitive variables, such as self-dehumanization and suicidal thoughts

Metadehumanization in severe alcohol-use disorders: Links with fundamental needs and clinical outcomes

Background Dehumanization, i.e., the denial of one’s humanity, has important consequences for social interactions. Earlier works mainly studied the dehumanizer’s perspective, neglecting victims and particularly psychiatric populations. This study’s goal is thus to investigate if patients with severe alcohol-use disorders (SAUD) feel dehumanized by others and to reveal factors linked to metadehumanization. Methods A cross-sectional study in 120 patients with SAUD as diagnosed by their psychiatrist using DSM-IV criteria. Results Participants reported significant levels of metadehumanization, which were directly or indirectly linked to fundamental needs threat (γ = 0.41, p < .001), decreased positive emotions (indirect effect = −0.11, p < .05), reduced self-esteem (indirect effect = −0.16, p < .01), reduced use of functional coping strategies focused on the search of social support (γ = −0.20, p < .05), and increased use of dysfunctional coping strategies (indirect effect = 0.15, p < .01) such as excessive alcohol use (indirect effect = 0.10, p < .05). Conclusions Patients feel dehumanized by others, an experience linked to important deleterious consequences for patients’ wellbeing and treatment