Self- and Partner-objectification in Romantic Relationships: Associations with Media Consumption and Relationship Satisfaction

Zurbriggen, Eileen L.; Ramsey, Laura R.; Jaworski, Beth K.

doi:10.1007/s11199-011-9933-4

Cited by 108 publications

(184 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(94 reference statements)

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“…What self-objectification appears to do is help make the system more palatable for women (Jost, 1995), especially under conditions of greater epistemic (Calogero & Jost, 2011), existential (Goldenberg et al, 2011), and relational (Zurbriggen, Ramsey, & Jaworski, 2011) Running head: OBJECTS AND ACTIONS 23 stress. Investment in appearance as the means to self-worth and social status brings the self in line with the system, which motivates women to work harder in the service of that system.…”

Section: Demonstrated That Appearancementioning

confidence: 99%

On Objects and Actions: Situating Self-Objectification in a System Justification Context

Calogero

2013

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation

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Integrating objectification and system justification perspectives, this chapter offers a conception of self-objectification as a dominant cultural lens through which women come to view themselves that garners their compliance in the sexist status quo. This chapter begins with an overview of objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997) and system justification theory (Jost and Banaji, 1994). Then, an integration of the two perspectives is presented that situates self-objectification in a system justification context, extending the scope of impact of self-objectification beyond the domains of body image and mental health. Empirical evidence is reviewed to demonstrate the direct and indirect ways that self-objectification works as a systemjustifying device for many women. For example, as a self-perspective that increases in response to benevolently sexist ideology or as a potential obstacle to taking collective action on behalf of women, self-objectification functions as a motivational and ideological force that rationalizes and legitimizes a gender role hierarchy. This developing program of research attempts to deepen our understanding of self-objectification and the broader system-level implications of this self-perspective. The chapter concludes with a discussion of potential next steps and a call for continued scientific inquiry into the broader functions of self-objectification.

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Section: Demonstrated That Appearancementioning

confidence: 99%

On Objects and Actions: Situating Self-Objectification in a System Justification Context

Calogero

2013

Nebraska Symposium on Motivation

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“…Indeed, in a sample of college students, Zurbriggen, Ramsey, and Jaworski (2011) found that objectifying one's partner was associated with lowered relationship satisfaction, for both men and women. If objectification leads to dehumanization and its corresponding negative consequences, it seems quite likely that feeling objectified (as opposed to doing the objectification, as was assessed in Zurbriggen et al, 2011) would also relate to lowered relationship satisfaction. The present research examines partner-objectification in relationships from the perspective of the person feeling objectified (termed ''perceived partner-objectification''), and it is the first known study to directly test the hypothesis that perceived partner-objectification is related to lowered relationship satisfaction.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexualized, objectified, but not satisfied

Ramsey

Marotta

Hoyt

2016

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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Although the objectification of women is pervasive, it has not been studied extensively in the context of romantic relationships. This is a curious oversight, given that physical appearance is considered a prominent factor in romantic attraction and conceptualizations of objectification tend to involve an exaggerated emphasis on physical appearance. Thus, objectification theory may have interesting implications for romantic relationships. Women who enjoy sexualization may be more likely to have a partner who objectifies them, which could have negative implications for the relationship, as objectification research has generally found that the experience of objectification has negative consequences for women. Across three studies of heterosexual women in relationships (N ¼ 114, N ¼ 196, and N ¼ 208), results showed that those who enjoyed sexualization tended to feel more objectified by their partner, which in turn related to lowered relationship satisfaction. These findings persisted even when controlling for perceptions of partner's sexual desire, self-objectification, and objectification from strangers. Furthermore, Study 3 provides preliminary evidence that self-objectification may be a precursor to this mediation in that self-objectification was associated with higher enjoyment of sexualization, which was associated with higher partner-objectification,

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“…Self-objectification has consequences such as continual body and appearance monitoring and requires cognitive attention that can interfere with task performance. According to the theory being objectified by others is thought to precede self-objectification; hence objectification by others (i.e., other-objectification) may be even more widespread and perhaps more insidious, than self-objectification (Zurbriggen et al, 2011). Furthermore, Strelan and Hargreaves (2005) found that women were less likely to objectify themselves (self-objectification), than to objectify other women (other-objectification).…”

Section: Objectification Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As compared to participants who saw videos of female artists low in SO, those who saw videos of female artists high in SO reported more adversarial sexual beliefs and were more accepting of interpersonal violence. Zurbriggen et al (2011) surveyed undergraduate men and women to study whether consumption of mass media (i.e., TV, films, magazines) was associated with other-objectification in the context of romantic relationships. They found that consumption of mass media was positively related to partner objectification (other-objectification), which was negatively related to relationship satisfaction.…”

Section: Objectification Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Objectification is harmful to the objectifying person (Aubrey et al, 2011;Johnson, McCreary, & Mills, 2007;Zurbriggen, Ramsey, & Jaworski, 2011), as well as to the individual being objectified (Frederickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn, & Twenge, 1998;Hebl, King, & Lin, 2004). Many researchers have studied objectification of others as a function of those others' revealing dress (Graff, Murnen, & Smolak, 2012;Gurung & Chrouser, 2007;Loughnan et al, 2010;Loughnan, Pina, Vasquez, & Puvia, 2013;Nezlek, Krohn, Wilson, & Marusken, 2015).…”

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Women’s revealing Halloween costumes: other-objectification and sexualization

2016

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Women are depicted in revealing dress in the media and the depictions have costs such as objectification. Objectification theory explains that women in Westernized cultures are looked at, evaluated, and potentially objectified by others. Accordingly, objectifying gaze (by others) evokes self-objectification which has effects such as habitual body and appearance monitoring. According to the theory being objectified by others precedes self-objectification, which suggests that objectification by others could be more prevalent than self-objectification and potentially just as harmful. Researchers have found that self-objectification and other-objectification can be induced by revealing dress manipulations that vary in tightness or body coverage. We studied Halloween costumes as a site for objectification of others. In Study 1, 124 pairs of men’s and women’s Halloween costumes were content analyzed. Women’s costumes were significantly more revealing than men’s in tightness and body coverage. Since sexual objectification in the media is assessed by the presence of revealing dress in media depictions, we reasoned that women’s revealing Halloween costumes could be sexually objectifying. In Study 2, 295 participants rated women wearing revealing or non-revealing costumes in an online experiment. Women wearing revealing costumes were sexually objectified by participants. Although men rated costumed women higher on the sexually objectifying traits than women, both men and women objectified the costumed women in the revealing dress condition. Dress researchers may wish to apply objectification theory to re-interpret and explain early research on revealing dress.

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Self- and Partner-objectification in Romantic Relationships: Associations with Media Consumption and Relationship Satisfaction

Cited by 108 publications

References 58 publications

On Objects and Actions: Situating Self-Objectification in a System Justification Context

On Objects and Actions: Situating Self-Objectification in a System Justification Context

Sexualized, objectified, but not satisfied

Women’s revealing Halloween costumes: other-objectification and sexualization

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