Objectification limits authenticity: Exploring the relations between objectification, perceived authenticity, and subjective well‐being

Cheng, Lei; Li, Zifei; Hao, Mingyang; Zhu, Xueli; Wang, Fang

doi:10.1111/bjso.12500

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…On the other hand, more people acting as ‘objectifiers’ means more people experience objectification, which further damages individuals’ well‐being, performance and social relationships (for a review, Baldissarri et al., 2022). For example, people suffering from objectification not only experience lower levels of authenticity and well‐being (Cheng et al., 2022), but also showed less prosocial behaviour and greater aggression towards others (Belmi & Schroeder, 2021; Poon et al., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘You are a useful person’: Economic inequality leads people to approach others in an instrumental way

Cheng

Hao

Wang

et al. 2023

Euro J Social Psych

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Economic inequality has been shown to increase the social distance between people. However, we proposed that people's affiliation with others in more unequal societies depends on whether the relationship is instrumental to self‐enhancement goals. The results from four experiments (total N = 823) supported our proposition. We found that economic inequality increased people's focus on the instrumental aspects of relationships (Experiment 1). In the workplace, economic inequality prompted people to choose colleagues who were instrumental in achieving their performance goals as partners (Experiment 2). Moreover, the effect could be extended to situations where there is no clear benefit. Specifically, participants in high‐inequality contexts tended to approach social targets of instrumental value more than those in low‐inequality contexts, and the effect was driven by self‐enhancement goals (Experiments 3–4). Taken together, our findings suggest that economic inequality encourages instrumental orientation in social interactions, which changes how people view relationships and interact with others.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘You are a useful person’: Economic inequality leads people to approach others in an instrumental way

Cheng

Hao

Wang

et al. 2023

Euro J Social Psych

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“…Participants were required to complete a short scale that measures the extent to which one perceives oneself as a tool for goal achievement (i.e., self-instrumentality dimension). Previous research has already shown that people can use others as a tool or an instrument (e.g., Cheng et al, 2021; Gruenfeld et al, 2008; Teng et al, 2016; X. Wang & Krumhuber 2017), and this instrumentality can also be present in self-perception (e.g., Baldissarri et al, 2017).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Threatened humanity in a tight world: Cultural tightness results in self-objectification

Wang

Chen

Shi

et al. 2022

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations

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Self-objectification can be considered as a specific kind of self-dehumanization that consists of a perception of oneself as more instrument-like than human-like and a decreased self-attribution of mental states. Self-objectification is commonly observed, and its contributing factors need to be better understood. In the present research, we examined whether cultural tightness, which entails strong social norms and punishments for deviant behaviors, is an antecedent to self-objectification. Our hypotheses were confirmed by four studies, involving quasi-experiments and fully controlled experiments ( N = 2,693). In particular, Chinese college students living in a region with a tight culture (compared to a loose culture, Study 1), American employees working in an industry with a tight corporate culture (compared to a loose culture, Study 2), American participants who were induced to support cultural tightness (vs. cultural looseness, Study 3), and those who were situated in a simulated tight culture (vs. a loose culture, Study 4) all showed increased levels of self-objectification. As such, they acknowledged their personhood less and focused more on their instrumentality. Implications are discussed.

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“…Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate systematically whether awe can predict and shape the level of humanness attributed to oneself (i.e., self-humanity), and, if so, in which direction. This is a crucial question because the level of humanness perceived in oneself affects various outcomes, including task engagement (Baldissarri & Andrighetto, 2021), immoral behavior (Kouchaki et al, 2018), well-being (Cheng et al, 2022), and motivation to reach full potential (Wang, Chen, & Chen, 2022).…”

Section: Self-humanitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Shining our humanity: The benefits of awe on self-humanity.

Cheng,

Wang

2024

Emotion

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Attributing humanness to oneself (i.e., self-humanity) can be malleable and can lead to various crucial outcomes. Researchers have not investigated whether and how awe as a self-related emotion affects people's perception of their own humanness. We proposed two competing hypotheses: awe impairs self-humanity via self-smallness, and awe promotes self-humanity via authentic-self pursuit. Across seven studies (N = 1539), we found that awe is positively related to (Studies 1 and 4) and predicts self-humanity (Studies 2a, 2b, 5, and 6). Moreover, this relationship was mediated by authentic-self pursuit (Studies 3-6) rather than self-smallness (Studies 5 and 6). The effect of awe on authentic-self pursuit and self-humanity held true among the general population (Studies 1-4 and 6) and for a disadvantaged group (i.e., blue-collar workers; Study 5). In addition, we demonstrated that the effect was not driven solely by positive emotions (Studies 1, 2b, and 6). These findings enrich the literature on awe and self-humanity.

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Objectification limits authenticity: Exploring the relations between objectification, perceived authenticity, and subjective well‐being

Cited by 19 publications

References 90 publications

‘You are a useful person’: Economic inequality leads people to approach others in an instrumental way

‘You are a useful person’: Economic inequality leads people to approach others in an instrumental way

Threatened humanity in a tight world: Cultural tightness results in self-objectification

Shining our humanity: The benefits of awe on self-humanity.

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