The Detrimental Effect of Sexual Objectification on Targets’ and Perpetrators’ Sexual Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Sexual Coercion

Abstract

Sexual objectification is a variable to consider for understanding the sexual violence that takes place into intimate context. The set of studies presented here aims to connect sexual objectification phenomena with sexual coercion and explore the consequences that both have on sexual satisfaction. Two studies examined the association between sexual objectification and sexual satisfaction for both views: female target (Study 1) and male perpetrator (Study 2) perspectives. The results of the first study (n = 138 heterosexual women) demonstrated that perceiving partner objectification (but not reporting general sexual objectification victimization) is indirectly linked to a lower sexual satisfaction because of lower rejection and higher sexual coercion rates. The second study (n = 136 heterosexual men) showed the indirect effect of partner objectification and general sexual objectification perpetration on sexual satisfaction after sexual coercion perpetration. Results of both studies demonstrated the negative consequences that sexual objectification has on sexual satisfaction for both male perpetrators and female targets.

“Everyone Saw Me Differently Like It Was My Fault or I Wanted It”: Acquaintance Stalking Victim Experiences of Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, and Sexual Autonomy

“…In general, research suggests there is a link between sexual assault and sexual harassment (Franz et al, 2016; Haikalis et al, 2017; Vasquez et al, 2017). Sexual harassment is a common experience for women with, for example, one study finding that 94% of undergraduate women experienced unwanted sexual comments and attention at least once during a semester (Swim et al, 2001) and these rates are consistent with other studies (Klein & Martin, 2021; Koval et al, 2019; Sáez et al, 2019). Sexual harassment tactics include verbal harassment (e.g., degrading insulting, and hostile remarks, leering, comments about one’s body), unwanted sexual attention (e.g., unwanted touching, fondling), and sexual coercion (e.g., expectations about sexual cooperation, threats for sexual compliance) (Klein & Martin, 2021; Miles-Mclean et al, 2015).…”

“…Research suggests that sexual harassment and sexual assault are both associated with reductions in sexual autonomy (Franz et al, 2016; Gidycz et al, 2008; Ramsey & Hoyt, 2015; Sáez et al, 2019). This may be due, in part, to being triggered by sexual activity, having lower trust levels, and/or having increased concerns about personal safety during sexual activities (Fairchild & Rudman, 2008; Mark & Vowels, 2020; Miles-Mclean et al, 2015; Ramsey & Hoyt, 2015; Sáez et al, 2019). In other words, sexual harassment and assault can impact the ability of an individual to set and maintain boundaries and to voice their needs and wants particularly in sexually intimate situations (i.e., sexual autonomy) (Mark & Vowels, 2020; Ravensberg & Miller, 2003).…”

Stop looking at me! associations between men's partner‐objectification and women's self‐objectification, body shame and life satisfaction in romantic relationships

“…Decades of literature reported that women's experiences of being sexually objectified enhance their self‐objectification, which is, in turn, associated with negative consequences, such as body shame and curbed well‐being. More recent research has also revealed that women's perceptions of being sexually objectified by their own partner are a further source of their self‐objectification (e.g., Ramsey et al, 2017; Ramsey & Hoyt, 2015; Sáez, Alonso‐Ferres, Garrido‐Macías, Valor‐Segura, & Expósito, 2019; Sáez, Riemer, Brock, & Gervais, 2019). Expanding this line of research, in the present study we tested whether partner‐objectification–assessed in men–would be related to women's self‐objectification in terms of body self‐surveillance and body shame.…”

“…Importantly, this evidence disambiguates contrasting results about the link between men's partner‐objectification and women's self‐objectification by revealing that this link robustly occurs also when men's objectifying perceptions are considered, rather than mere women's meta‐perceptions. In fact, in testing this relationship and unlike most previous research (e.g., Ramsey et al, 2017; Ramsey & Hoyt, 2015; Sáez, Alonso‐Ferres, et al, 2019; Sáez, Riemer, et al, 2019), we relied on men's self‐reported (vs. women's self‐perceived) partner‐objectification.…”

The divorcee memes in the virtual field: Body discourse positioning as the object and enhancement of sexual image

“…In feminist theory, men are considered as subjects, while women are the objects (Christianson, Teiler, & Eriksson, 2021). Many studies found that women are usually seen as a sexual object (Dvir, Kelly, Tyler, & Williams, 2020;Sáez, Alonso-Ferres, Garrido-Macías, Valor-Segura, & Expósito, 2019;Vaes, Cristoforetti, Ruzzante, Cogoni & Mazza, 2019). Sexual objectification is related to women's physical appearance, specifically their sexual features or functions (Chevallereau, Stinglhamber, Maurage & Demoulin, 2021).…”