Self‐objectification in women predicts approval motivation in online self‐presentation

Abstract

Researchers have examined self‐objectification – viewing oneself as an object rather than a subject – in terms of its impact on intrapersonal factors, such as mental health and cognitive performance. However, few have examined how self‐objectification relates to interpersonal factors. The present research addressed this gap by testing the impact of self‐objectification on social approval motivation among women. Study 1 (n = 103) found that individual differences in self‐objectification correlated positively with approval motivation. Study 2 (n = 94) replicated these results and found that women who reported higher self‐objectification were more willing to modify their social media profile pictures unrealistically. In Study 3 (n = 100), higher self‐objectifying women were more willing to unrealistically modify their profile pictures even if this exceeded normative levels, which was replicated in Study 4 (n = 199). These results suggest that women’s self‐objectification is associated with a desire for approval from others and this desire manifests in a willingness to modify self‐presentation.

Social media use, mental health, and suicide-related outcomes in Russian women: A cross-sectional comparison between two age groups

“… 69 , 70 The visual self-presentation is especially important for the self-expression of women. 71 This could at least partly explain the dominance of Instagram use in our study.…”

Women's Self-Objectification and Strategic Self-Presentation on Social Media

“…Studies have found consistent evidence that self-objectification is positively associated with selfie-editing behaviors, which reflect strategic self-presentation (Chen et al, 2022; Fox et al, 2021; Salomon & Brown, 2020; Wang et al, 2021). For example, Caso et al (2020) found a positive correlation between self-objectification and the frequency of posting and editing selfies.…”

“…Saguy et al (2010) explained their findings by suggesting that self-objectifying women may try to appear more aligned with traditionally feminine roles in interactions (e.g., by being agreeable and submissive; Rudman & Glick, 2001). Viewed from an approval-seeking perspective, this finding may reflect women's attempt to act according to their perceptions of others’ preferences (Chen et al, 2022). Thus, these findings enrich the literature on self-objectification and its interpersonal consequences by showing how self-objectifying women are driven by their need for social approval to present more socially desirable selves in social media activities.…”

“…Fredrickson et al (1998) have found that self-objectifying women may also focus on observable body attributes that can be seen by others, wondering, “How do I look, and how does that please others?” rather than focusing on their own perspective, such as “What am I capable of?” or “How do I feel?” Women who self-objectify may, thus, act more “object-like” during interpersonal interactions to fulfill others’ expectations of them, for example, by spending less time talking to men during social interactions (Saguy et al, 2010). In addition, a recent study reported that self-objectification is linked to increased approval motivation in women (Chen et al, 2022), which includes a tendency to seek positive responses from others (Hebert et al, 1997; Rudolph et al, 2005) and concern about “what others say” (p. 920) about them (Karaşar & Baytemir, 2018). It seems likely, then, that self-objectification may drive women to act more in line with expected gender norms as a way to seek social approval.…”

Ruminative Brooding Mediate the Association between Self-Objectification and Psychological Distress among Early Adults

“…Items with the correct codes were reversed. Body Shame Subscale, of Objectified Body Consciousness Scale is developed by McKinely and Hyde (1996), is composed of 8 items totally, with 7-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). The body shame scale is a reliable having alpha coefficient .87.…”