A feminine look at female objectification: Makeup and self-objectification, sexy women and their dehumanization

The present work aimed to get a better understanding of sexual female objectification (Bartky, 1990; Frederickson & Roberts, 1997). When objectified, a woman is put on a par with her body or body parts resulting in a loss of her personality and individuality. We have examined both the cognitive consequence of the objectification of the self on woman’s self-perception and the possible motivations that lead women to consider sexually objectified female targets as not fully human beings. Chapter 2 tested the hypotheses that applying makeup could be a self-objectifying practice that in turn could have a negative impact on woman’s self-perceived competence. In two studies we have shown that changing one’s facial features trough the use of makeup is linked with a woman’s tendency to self-objectify, increasing worries about her physical (facial) appearance. In addition, we hypothesized that makeup use could have a negative impact on woman’s self-perception according to the normative context in which it is used. In line with this hypothesis, only when women’s competence is expected to be evaluated the intention to wear makeup lead female participants to perceive themselves as less competent. Study 2 replicated the link between makeup use and self-objectification broadening our knowledge about the process of self-objectification itself. Indeed, the results of these studies show that a person’s face instead of his or her body can function as a possible source of self-objectification, and more specifically the use of makeup is a potential self-objectifying practice. In Chapter 3 we examined the possible motivations that could lead women to dehumanize their sexually objectified counterparts. Both target and perceivers’ characteristics were manipulated to get a better understanding on these motivations. In Study 3, we showed that manipulating the social meaning of the target of sexual female objectification that is priming the idea of a woman as a promoter versus a victim of on objectifying culture changed the way female participants perceived them in human terms. Only in the former condition female participants attributed less humanness to sexually objectified targets. Finally, focusing on perceivers’ personality characteristics, Study 4 showed that women when confronted with sexually objectified depictions of their gender category tend to distance themselves from these representations because they perceive these sexy women as potential competitors in their strive to attract the attention of the other sex.Il presente lavoro di ricerca è volto ad indagare il fenomeno dell’oggettivazione sessuale femminile (Bartky, 1990; Frederickson & Roberts, 1997). Quando oggettivata, una donna è ridotta al proprio corpo o alle sue parti sessuali perdendo la propria individualità e personalità. Il processo di oggettivazione è stato indagato prendendo in considerazione sia le conseguenze cognitive che l’oggettivazione rivolta al sé o auto-oggettivazione può avere sulla percezione che una donna ha di sé, sia le possibili motivazioni che spingono le donne a considerare modelli di donna sessualmente oggettivati come non completamente esseri umani, o de-umanizzarli. Nel Capitolo 2 abbiamo verificato se l’uso di makeup possa essere considerato una pratica auto-oggettivante che in quanto tale può avere un effetto negativo sulla competenza auto percepita di una donna. In una serie di due studi abbiamo mostrato come modificare le caratteristiche del proprio volto attraverso l’uso di makeup è associato ad una tendenza ad auto-oggettivarsi, aumentando le preoccupazioni espresse da partecipanti femminili per il proprio aspetto fisico, in particolare legato al proprio volto. Inoltre, abbiamo ipotizzato che l’effetto negativo derivante dall’uso di makeup possa dipendere dal contesto normativo in cui makeup viene utilizzato. In accordo con quest’ipotesi, è stato mostrato come solamente nel caso in cui partecipanti femminili erano poste in un contesto in cui la competenza veniva resa saliente l’intenzione di usare makeup portava queste stesse partecipanti a percepirsi come meno competenti. Nel loro insieme, questi studi ampliano la nostra conoscenza sul processo di auto-oggettivazione in quanto mostrano per la prima volta che anche il proprio volto oltre al corpo nel suo insieme può essere una fonte di auto-oggettivazione. A dispetto del suo largo uso, questi studi mostrano come l’uso di makeup sia un’abitudine potenzialmente auto-oggettivante. Nel Capitolo 3 sono state indagate le possibili motivazioni che portano le donne a de-umanizzare modelli di donne sessualmente oggettivate. Abbiamo considerato le caratteristiche di chi subisce l’oggettivazione, ovvero della donna oggetto e di chi la pone in essere, ovvero le altre donne separatamente, ipotizzando che questi due aspetti siano importanti nel processo indagato. Nello Studio 3 abbiamo mostrato come cambiando il significato sociale associato ad un modello di oggettivazione sessuale femminile, evidenziando cioè il ruolo di potenziale promotrice oppure di vittima della donna di una cultura che oggettivizza i corpi femminili, cambi anche il modo in cui partecipanti femminili percepiscono questi modelli in termini umani. Solo nella condizione in cui veniva evidenziato il possibile ruolo di promotrici di una cultura che pone l’aspetto fisico come prioritario, le donne non attribuivano loro un grado di umanità diverso da quello attribuito ad un topic di controllo. Infine, nello Studio 4 il fenomeno di de-umanizzazione di modelli di donna oggetto da parte di altre donne, è stato indagato prendendo in considerazione le caratteristiche di personalità di partecipanti femminili considerate significative nel contesto dell’oggettivazione femminile. L’obiettivo era quello di comprendere quale tipologia di donna ha maggiori probabilità di reagire negativamente a questi modelli femminili. Questo studio ha mostrato come sono in particolare le donne motivate ad attrarre membri dell’altro sesso a prendere le distanze da modelli di donna sessualmente oggettivati poiché vedono in questi modelli delle potenziali rivali

Promoters versus victims of objectification: Why women dehumanize sexually objectified female targets

Recent findings show that women dehumanize their sexually objectified female counterparts. The present studies propose that women do so because they usually perceive them as promoters of an objectifying culture. Presented with a woman's testimony saying that she either promoted or was victimized by an objectifying culture or a neutral unrelated article, female participants associated sexually objectified female targets with uniquely human versus animalrelated attributes. Results of Study 1 confirmed that, compared to the victim condition, female participants associated less humanness to sexually objectified female targets in both the promoter and the neutral condition. In Study 2, a moderated-mediation model confirmed that when the idea that all women are potential victims of objectification is activated, those women who include sexually objectified female targets in the overall gender category generalize their support for a female victim of objectification to these targets, and humanize them as a result. Overall, these results indicate that the meaning of the category of sexually objectified female targets (victims vs. promoters) is important in determining the human associations they will receive from other women.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The Role of Masked Solutions in the Accuracy of Insight Problem-Solving Task

Objective: The primary aim of the study was to test the allegedly facilitating role of insight-like strategy in the detection of masked solutions Compound Remote Associates problems (CRA problems). Method: A sample of 114 participants solved 19 CRA problems presented online. Participants were requested to solve the problems in which either the solution to the CRA problems was randomly presented in a masked condition or no solution was provided. After each trial participants were requested to report whether they used insight or analytical strategy. Participants were also required to complete a sensation seeking scale and a measure of creativity. Results: The results showed a small, but robust correlation between the CRA problems accuracy and the degree of insight-type strategy used for their solution. The degree of sensation seeking, the score of creativity and the outcome of the manipulation check did not reveal any influence on the CRA problems solution. Conclusion: The use of intuitive strategies may facilitate psi-related creative problem solving, but confirmatory research is needed

Being a Body: Women\u2019s Appearance Related Self-Views and their Dehumanization of Sexually Objectified Female Targets

When sexually objectified, women are reduced to their bodies or sexual body parts and become likely targets of dehumanization. Not only men, but also women engage in this process. In the present research, we tested the link between women\u2019s appearance related self-views and their tendency to dehumanize sexually objectified female targets. Specifically, we test two mediational models and predict that (1) women\u2019s motivation to look attractive to men and (2) their tendency to internalize the sociocultural beauty stand- ards are linked with the dehumanization of sexually objec- tified female targets, and their level of self-objectification mediates both relations. To test these hypotheses, a sample of 55 heterosexual undergraduate female students from Northern Italy volunteered. Participants\u2019 motivation to look attractive to men, their level of internalization of the sociocultural beauty standards, and their tendency to self-objectify was measured. Results confirmed that only sexually objectified female targets were significantly dehumanized, while their non-objectified counterparts were not. Moreover, both participants\u2019 motivation to look attractive to men and their tendency to internalize the sociocultural beauty standards were positively linked with the dehumanization of sexually objectified female targets. As expected, these relations were mediated by participants\u2019 level of self-objectification. These results show that higher levels of self-objectification among those women who are motivated either to look attractive to men or to internalize the sociocultural beauty standards are linked with their tendency to dehumanize sexually objectified female targets

Are sexualized women complete human beings? Why men and women dehumanize sexually objectified women

Focusing on the dehumanization of sexually objectified targets, study 1 tested the extent to which objectified and non-objectified male and female publicity photos were associated with human compared to animal concepts. Results conrmed the hypothesis that, among all targets, only objectied women were associated with less human concepts. This pattern of results emerged for both male and female participants but likely for different reasons. Study 2 directly looked at female and male participants\u2019 afnity with sexually objectfied women. Results indicated that the more women distanced themselves from sexually objectfied women the more they dehumanized them, whereas men\u2019s sexual attraction moderated their tendency to dehumanize female targets. In study 3, this latter motivation was operationalized as the activation of a sex goal and showed to trigger man\u2019s but not woman\u2019s dehumanization of female targets. Overall, the present set of studies show that only sexually objectfied women are dehumanized by both men and women but for different reasons. Whereas sexual attraction shifts a men\u2019s focus of a female target away from her personality onto her body triggering a dehumanization process, women are more inclined to dehumanize their sexually objectfied counterparts the more they distance themselves from these sexualized representations of their gender category

How sexual objectification generates dehumanization in Western and Eastern Cultures: a comparison between Belgium and Thailand

Ever since Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) proposed objectification theory, research on self-objectification and – by extension –other-objectification has experienced a considerable expansion. However, most of the studies on sexual objectification have been conductedsolely in Western populations. This study investigates whether the effect of target sexualization on social perception differs as a function ofculture (Western vs. Eastern). Specifically, we asked a Western sample (Belgian, N = 62) and a Southeast Asian sample (Thai, N = 98) to ratesexualized versus nonsexualized targets.Wefound that sexual objectification results in dehumanization in both Western (Belgium) and Eastern(Thailand) cultures. Specifically, participants from both countries attributed less competence and less agency to sexualized than to nonsexualizedtargets, and they reported that they would administer more intense pain to sexualized than to nonsexualized targets. Thus, buildingon past research, this study suggests that the effect of target sexualization on dehumanization is amore general rather than a culture-specificphenomenon.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

From women to objects: Appearance focus, target gender, and perceptions of warmth, morality and competence

Most literally, objectification refers to perceiving a person as an object, and consequently, less than fully human. Research on perceptions of humanness and the stereotype content model suggests that humanness is linked to perceptions of warmth, morality and competence. Merging these insights with objectification theory, we hypothesized that focusing on a woman's, but not a man's, appearance should induce objectification, and thus reduce perceptions of these characteristics. In three studies, females, but not males, were perceived as less competent (Studies 2 and 3) and less warm and moral (Studies 1, 2 and 3) when participants were instructed to focus on their appearance. These findings support our position and help rule out stereotype activation as an alternative explanation to dehumanization. Further, they generalized to targets of different races, familiarity, physical attractiveness and occupational status. Implications for gender inequity and the perpetuation of objectification of women are discussed

From women to objects: Appearance focus, target gender, and perceptions of warmth, morality and competence

Most literally, objectification refers to perceiving a person as an object, and consequently, less than fully human. Research on perceptions of humanness and the stereotype content model suggests that humanness is linked to perceptions of warmth, morality and competence. Merging these insights with objectification theory, we hypothesized that focusing on a woman's, but not a man's, appearance should induce objectification, and thus reduce perceptions of these characteristics. In three studies, females, but not males, were perceived as less competent (Studies 2 and 3) and less warm and moral (Studies 1, 2 and 3) when participants were instructed to focus on their appearance. These findings support our position and help rule out stereotype activation as an alternative explanation to dehumanization. Further, they generalized to targets of different races, familiarity, physical attractiveness and occupational status. Implications for gender inequity and the perpetuation of objectification of women are discussed. </p

Exploring the role of culture in sexual objectification: A seven nations study

Sexual objectification - seeing or treating a person as a sexual object - has been the topic of considerable investigation. Building from a longstanding recognition of the potential importance of culture in sexual objectification, this paper focuses on the extent to which people in different parts of the world objectify themselves and others. We explored sexual objectification amongst 588 people in seven diverse nations (i.e. Australia, India, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, the UK, and the USA). Participants completed standard measures of self- and other-objectification. The results revealed that culture did affect self- and other-objectification, with objectification emerging more robustly in Australia, Italy, the UK, and the USA than it did in India, Japan, and Pakistan. These findings help support theoretical claims that culture matters for sexual objectification. Future research directions are discussed.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe