Objectification Theory: Of relevance for eating disorder researchers and clinicians?

Abstract

Background There is a large and expanding body of research on Objectification Theory. Central to the theory is the proposition that self‐objectification results in shame and anxiety surrounding the body, and as a consequence, the development of eating disorders. However, the theory and research have been developed and reported in the gender and social psychological literatures rather than the clinical literature. Accordingly, the goal of this article is to present an account of Objectification Theory to a clinical audience. Methods The article presents a brief overview of Objectification Theory, followed by a narrative review of the related research. It then identifies clinical implications for research and practice in the area of eating disorders. Results There is substantial research evidence, both correlational and experimental, supporting the predictions of Objectification Theory as they pertain to disordered eating. In particular, self‐objectification is linked to disordered eating through the mechanisms of body shame and appearance anxiety. Conclusions Although Objectification Theory does not attempt to encompass all major factors contributing to the development of eating disorders (e.g., genetics, temperament), its explicit account of social forces offers some useful clinical insights towards the conceptualisation, treatment, and prevention of eating disorders. These, in turn, offer a number of potentially fruitful avenues for future research.

The developmental effects of media-ideal internalization and self-objectification processes on adolescents’ negative body-feelings, dietary restraint, and binge eating

“…Indeed, the literature has often equated body surveillance with self-objectification using these constructs interchangeably [32,34]. Nevertheless, some researchers describe these constructs as somewhat distinct but highly related [39].…”

“…The most recent and comprehensive metaanalysis of experimental studies [26] demonstrated that media-idealized images have the most harmful and substantial impact on vulnerable individuals (i.e., "internalizers" and "self-objectifiers"), regardless of media characteristics (i.e., frequency and length of exposure, media types) or gender. Although media-ideal internalization and selfobjectification processes constitute two principal socialcognitive mechanisms through which media-idealized images exert their long-term influence on negative bodyfeelings and eating disturbances [17,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33], there remains a strong need for prospective research on their effects in developmentally appropriate samples [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. In the current study, we aim to fill this gap in the literature, drawing upon objectification theory [35] to provide us with a testable framework for the proposed links.…”

“…In doing so subjects adopt an observer's perspective on their own bodies and they learn to view and treat themselves as objects to be looked at and evaluated on the basis of physical appearance [17, 27-32, 35, 42]. Taking this observer's (or third-person) perspective on the self ("self-objectification") manifests as habitual body surveillance [28,29,32,34,[42][43][44], whereby individuals monitor their compliance with the genderspecific sociocultural body shape ideals to avoid negative judgments from others [18,38,[40][41][42][43][44]. In turn, selfobjectification is theorized [17,35] to lead to body shame and appearance anxiety, which could then motivate dietary restraint in an attempt to lose body fat to appear more consistent with the female thin-ideal and male lean-muscular ideal standards (as subcutaneous body fat can hide musculature [45]).…”

“…Numerous studies employing American, Australian, Canadian, British, and Italian samples of adult women and men have found that selfobjectification as a result of the internalization of body shape ideals portrayed in the media is associated with disordered eating via the mediators of body shame and appearance anxiety (see [28,29,32,34] for reviews). Despite this extensive literature, only three studies have tested and supported the conceptual relations proposed by objectification theory as applied to adolescent disordered eating so far [47][48][49].…”

“…However, these studies did not investigate mediaideal internalization as an antecedent to the self-objectification process as well as potential gender differences in the strength of the examined associations. Further, all prior studies have been conducted cross-sectionally, and operationalized the core features of EDs (i.e., dietary restraint and binge eating [46]) as a single construct assessed via self-reported ED symptom composite measures [34].…”