The exonerating effect of sexual objectification: Sexual objectification decreases rapist blame in a stranger rape context

A blossoming body of research documents the effect of sexual objectification on social perception, but little is known about the consequences of sexual objectification. This paper examines how sexual objectification influences men and women’s rape perception in case of a stranger rape. Given that people attribute the full responsibility to the rapist in case of stranger (vs. acquaintance) rape, situational factors are more likely to shift attribution of rapist blame in cases of stranger rape. We hypothesized that victim’s sexual objectification might diminish rapist blame and increase victim blame in case of a stranger rape. Fifty-eight male and fifty-seven female Belgian undergraduate students were assigned to either a sexual objectifying (i.e. body focus) or to a personalized portrayal (i.e. face focus) of a rape victim. After reading a newspaper report depicting a stranger rape, participants were asked to evaluate the extent to which they blamed the rapist and the victim. As predicted, participants blamed the rapist less in the sexual objectification condition, regardless of participant gender. In contrast, sexual objectification did not increase victim blame. The implications of these findings for future research on sexual objectification, gender differences in rape perception, and sexual assault are discussed.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

When sex doesn't sell: using sexualized images of women reduces support for ethical campaigns

Images of scantily clad women are used by advertisers to make products more attractive to men. This "sex sells" approach is increasingly employed to promote ethical causes, most prominently by the animal-rights organization PETA. Yet sexualized images can dehumanize women, leaving an unresolved paradox - is it effective to advertise an ethical cause using unethical means? In Study 1, a sample of Australian male undergraduates (N = 82) viewed PETA advertisements containing either sexualized or non-sexualized images of women. Intentions to support the ethical organization were reduced for those exposed to the sexualized advertising, and this was explained by their dehumanization of the sexualized women, and not by increased arousal. Study 2 used a mixed-gender community sample from the United States (N = 280), replicating this finding and extending it by showing that behaviors helpful to the ethical cause diminished after viewing the sexualized advertisements, which was again mediated by the dehumanization of the women depicted. Alternative explanations relating to the reduced credibility of the sexualized women and their objectification were not supported. When promoting ethical causes, organizations may benefit from using advertising strategies that do not dehumanize women

Toward a unified theory of objectification and dehumanization

Objectification and dehumanization represent motivational conundrums because they are phenomena in which people are seen in ways that are fundamentally inaccurate; seeing people as objects, as animals, or not as people. The purpose of the 60th Nebraska Symposium on Motivation was to examine the motivational underpinnings of objectification and dehumanization of the self and others. To provide an overall context for this volume, we first provide classic conceptualizations of objectification and dehumanization and speculate about relations between the two. We then introduce a unified theory of objectification and dehumanization within the global versus local processing model (GLOMO) and provide initial supporting evidence. Finally, we introduce the chapters in this volume, which provide additional significant and novel motivational perspectives on objectification and dehumanization. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.SCOPUS: cp.kinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedObjectifiation and Dehumanization / Gervais, Sarah - ISBN 978-1-4614-6959-