Two Preregistered Direct Replications of “Objects Don’t Object: Evidence That Self-Objectification Disrupts Women’s Social Activism”

Abstract

Self-objectification has been claimed to induce numerous detrimental consequences for women at the individual level (e.g., sexual dysfunction, depression, eating disorders). Additionally, at the collective level, it has been proposed that self-objectified women might themselves contribute to the maintenance of the patriarchal status quo, for instance, by participating less in collective action. In 2013, Calogero found a negative link between self-objectification and collective action, which was mediated by the adoption of gender-specific system justification. Here, we report two preregistered direct replications (PDRs) of Calogero’s original study. We conducted these PDRs after three failures to replicate the positive relation between self-objectification and gender-specific system-justification belief in correlational studies. Results of the two PDRs, in which we used a Bayesian approach, supported the null hypothesis. This work has important theoretical implications because it challenges the role attributed to self-objectified women in the maintenance of patriarchy.

Why Might Women Justify Dating Violence? The Role of Men’s Sexual Objectification of Their Romantic Partners Within Heterosexual Relationships

“…A wide amount of research demonstrated that self-objectification is linked directly and indirectly to several negative outcomes such as body shame, eating disorder, decreased personal a relational satisfaction, and impaired cognitive and physical performances (see Roberts et al, 2017, for a review). Although underdeveloped, other research suggests that, along with intraindividual and interpersonal consequences, self-objectification may also increase women’s acceptance of gender inequalities (e.g., Calogero & Tylka, 2014; Fox et al, 2015; but see De Wilde et al, 2020). In fact, perpetuating the existing gender-role norms in the sexual objectification system, women are valued for their physical attractiveness, while men are typically considered for their agency and performance (Choma & Prusaczyk, 2018; Zurbriggen, 2013).…”