When what you see is what you get: The consequences of the objectifying gaze for women and men

Psychology of Women Quarterly

Volumn 35, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 5-17

  Gervais, Sarah J ^a   Vescio, Theresa K ^b   Allen, Jill ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN   (United States)

^b PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Body image; Human sex differences; Interpersonal interaction; Mathematics anxiety; Motivation; Objectification; Sexism; Stereotype threat

Indexed keywords

EID: 79955460492     PISSN: 03616843     EISSN: 14716402     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0361684310386121     Document Type: Article

References (93)

1. Alvesson, M., & Billing, Y. (2009). Understanding gender and organizations. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
2. American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2007). Report of the APA task force on the sexualization of girls. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Retrieved from www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html
3. Archer, D., Iritani, B., Kimes, D. D., & Barrios, M. (1983). Faceism: Five studies of sex differences in facial prominence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 725-735. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.45.4.725
4. Aubrey, J. (2006). Effects of sexually objectifying media on selfobjectification and body surveillance in undergraduates: Results of a 2-year panel study. Journal of Communication, 56, 366-386. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00024.x
5. Baird, A., & Grieve, F. (2006). Exposure to male models in advertisements leads to a decrease in men's body satisfaction. North American Journal of Psychology, 8, 115-121.
6. Bartky, S. L. (1990). Femininity and domination: Studies in the phenomenology of oppression. New York, NY: Routledge.
7. Berger, J. (1972). Ways of seeing. London, England: Penguin.
8. Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1978). Interpersonal attraction. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
9. Bordo, S. (1999). The male body: A new look at men in public and in private. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
10. Breines, J., Crocker, J., & Garcia, J. (2008). Self-objectification and well-being in women's daily lives. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 583-598. doi: 10.1177/ 0146167207313727
11. Cafri, G., van den Berg, P., & Brannick, M. T. (2010). What have the difference scores not been telling us? A critique of the use of selfideal discrepancy in the assessment of body image and evaluation of an alternative data-analytic framework. Assessment, 17, 361-376. doi: 10.1177/1073191109357028
12. Calogero, R. M. (2004). A test of objectification theory: The effect of the male gaze on appearance concerns in college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28, 16-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2004.00118.x
13. Calogero, R. M., Herbozo, S., & Thompson, K. (2009). Complimentary weightism: The potential costs of appearance-related commentary for women's self-objectification. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 120-132. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2008.01479.x
14. Campbell, S., & Collaer, M. (2009). Stereotype threat and gender differences in performance on a novel visuospatial task. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 437-444 doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2009.01521.x
15. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
16. Cole, E. (2009). Intersectionality and research in psychology. American Psychologist, 64, 170-180. doi: 10.1037/a0014564
17. De Beauvoir, S. (1952). The second sex (H. M. Parshley, Trans.). New York, NY: Knopf.
18. Eagly, A., & Wood, W. (1991). Explaining sex differences in social behavior: A meta-analytic perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17, 306-315. doi: 10.1177/ 0146167291173011
19. Educational Testing Services. (2010). GRE test fairness and validity. Retrieved from http://www.ets.org/gre/general/about/fairness/index.html
20. Edwards, J. R. (2002). Alternatives to difference scores: Polynomial regression and response surface methodology. In F. Drasgow & N. W. Schmitt (Eds.), Advances in measurement and data analysis (pp. 350-400). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
21. Ellsworth, P., Carlsmith, J., & Henson, A. (1972). The stare as a stimulus to flight in human subjects: A series of field experiments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 21, 302-311. doi: 10.1037/h0032323
22. Fairchild, K., & Rudman, L. (2008). Everyday stranger harassment and women's objectification. Social Justice Research, 21, 338-357. doi: 10.1007/s11211-008-0073-0
23. Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women's lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173-206. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x
24. Fredrickson, B. L., Roberts, T., Noll, S. M., Quinn, D. M., & Twenge, J. M. (1998). That swimsuit becomes you: Sex differences in self-objectification, restrained eating, and math performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 269-284. doi: 10.1037/ 0022-3514.75.1.269
25. Gabriel, S., & Gardner, W. (1999). Are there "his" and "hers" types of interdependence? The implications of gender differences in collective versus relational interdependence for affect, behavior and cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 642-655. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.77.3.642
26. Gapinski, K. D., Brownell, K. D., & La France, M. (2003). Body objectification and "fat talk:" Effects on emotion, motivation, and cognitive performance. Sex Roles, 48, 377-388. doi: 10.1023/A:1023516209973
27. Garner, D. M. (1991). Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (Professional manual). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
28. Glick, P., & Fiske, S. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 491-512. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491
29. Goffman, E. (1979). Gender advertisements. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
30. Gruenfeld, D. H., Inesi, M. E., Magee, J. C., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Power and objectification of social targets. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 111-127. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.111
31. Hallsworth, L., Wade, T., & Tiggemann, M. (2005). Individual differences in male body-image: An examination of selfobjectification in recreational body builders. British Journal of Health Psychology, 10, 453-465. doi: 10.1348/135910705X26966
32. Harrison, K., & Cantor, J. (1997). The relationship between media consumption and eating disorders. Journal of Communication, 47, 40-67. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1997.tb02692.x
33. Harvey, J. A., & Robinson, J. D. (2003). Eating disorders in men: Current considerations. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 10, 297-306. doi: 10.1023/A: 1026357505747
34. Hebl, M. R., King, E. B., & Lin, J. (2004). The swimsuit becomes all of us: Ethnicity, gender, and vulnerability to self-objectification. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1322-1331. doi: 10.1177/0146167204264052
35. Heilman, M., & Stopeck, M. (1985). Being attractive, advantage or disadvantage? Performance-based evaluations and recommended personnel actions as a function of appearance, sex, and job type. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 35, 202-215. doi: 10.1016/0749-5978(85)90035-4
36. Hill, M., & Fischer, A. (2008). Examining objectification theory: Lesbian and heterosexual women's experiences with sexual- and self-objectification. The Counseling Psychologist, 36, 745-776. doi: 10.1177/0011000007301669
37. Huebner, D., & Fredrickson, B. (1999). Gender differences in memory perspectives: Evidence for self-objectification in women. Sex Roles, 41, 459-467. doi: 10.1023/A: 1018831001880
38. Inzlicht, M., & Ben-Zeev, T. (2000). A threatening intellectual environment: Why females are susceptible to experiencing problem-solving deficits in the presence of males. Psychological Science, 11, 365-371. doi: 10.1111/1467-9280.00272
39. Jackman, M. R. (1994). The velvet glove: Paternalism and conflict in gender, race, and class relations. Berkeley: University of California Press.
40. Joiner, T. E. Jr. (1999). Self-verification and bulimia symptoms: Do bulimic women play a role in perpetuating their own dissatisfaction and symptoms? International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26, 145-151. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199909)
41. Jones, R., & Cooper, J. (1971). Mediation of experimenter effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 20, 70-74. doi: 10.1037/h0031700
42. Kilbourne, J., & Pipher, M. (1999). Deadly persuasion: Why women and girls must fight the addictive power of advertising. New York: NY: Free Press.
43. Kleck, R., & Nuessle, W. (1968). Congruence between the indicative and communicative functions of eye contact in interpersonal relations. British Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 7, 241-246.
44. Knauss, C., Paxton, S., & Alsaker, F. (2008). Body dissatisfaction in adolescent boys and girls: Objectified body consciousness, internalization of the media body ideal and perceived pressure from media. Sex Roles, 59, 633-643. doi: 10.1007/s11199-008-9474-7
45. Kozee, H. B., & Tylka, T. L. (2006). A test of objectification theory with lesbian women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 348-357. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00310.x
46. Kozee, H. B., Tylka, T. L., Augustus-Horvath, C. L., & Denchik, A. (2007). Development and psychometric evaluation of the interpersonal sexual objectification scale. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31, 176-189. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00351.x
47. Kuncel, N. R., Hezlett, S. A., & Ones, D. S. (2001). A comprehensive meta-analysis of the predictive validity of the Graduate Record Examinations: Implications for graduate student selection and performance. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 162-181.
48. Larkin, J., Rice, C., & Russel, V. (1996). Slipping through the cracks: Sexual harassment, eating problems, and the problem of embodiment. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 4, 5-26.
49. Lindberg, S., Grabe, S., & Hyde, J. (2007). Gender, pubertal development, and peer sexual harassment predict objectified body consciousness in early adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 17, 723-742.
50. Logel, C., Walton, G., Spencer, S., Iserman, E., von Hippel, W., & Bell, A. (2009). Interacting with sexist men triggers social identity threat among female engineers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 1089-1103. doi: 10.1037/a0015703
51. MacKinnon, C. (1987). Feminism unmodified: Discourse on life and law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
52. Martins, Y., Tiggemann, M., & Churhett, L. (2008). The shape of things to come: Gay men's satisfaction with specific body parts. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 9, 248-256. doi: 10.1037/a0012473
53. Martins, Y., Tiggemann, M., & Kirkbride, A. (2007). Those speedos become them: The role of self-objectification in gay and heterosexual men's body image. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 634-647. doi: 10.1177/0146167206297403
54. McKinley, N. M. (1998). Gender differences in undergraduates' body esteem: The mediating effect of objectified body consciousness and actual/ideal weight discrepancy. Sex Roles, 39, 113-123. doi: 10.1023/A:1018834001203
55. McKinley, N.M. (2006). Longitudinal gender differences in objectified body consciousness andweight-related attitudes and behaviors:Cultural and developmental contexts in the transition from college. Sex Roles, 54, 159-173. doi: 10.1007/s11199-006-9335-1
56. McKinley, N. M., & Hyde, J. S. (1996). The objectified body consciousness scale: Development and validation. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 181-215. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1996.tb00467.x
57. Moradi, B., Dirks, D., & Matteson, A. V. (2005). Roles of sexual objectification experiences and internalization of standards of beauty in eating disorder symptomatology: A test and extension of objectification theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 420-428. doi: 10.1037/0022-0167.52.3.420
58. Moradi, B., & Huang, Y. (2008). Objectification theory and psychology of women: A decade of advances and future directions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 377-398. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2008.00452.x
59. Morry, M., & Staska, S. (2001). Magazine exposure: Internalization, self-objectification, eating attitudes, and body satisfaction in male and female university students. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement, 33, 269-279.
60. Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. Screen, 16, 6-18.
61. Murnen, S. K., & Smolak, L. (2000). The experience of sexual harassment among grade-school students: Early socialization of female subordination? Sex Roles, 43, 1-17. doi: 10.1023/ A:1007007727370
62. Myers, T., & Crowther, J. (2007). Sociocultural pressures, thin-ideal internalization, self-objectification, and body dissatisfaction: Could feminist beliefs be a moderating factor? Body Image, 4, 296-308.
63. Noll, S. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (1998). A mediational model linking self-objectification, body shame, and disordered eating. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 22, 623-636. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1998.tb00181.x
64. Orbison, R. (1964). Oh, pretty woman. Nashville, TN: Monuments Records.
65. Pope, H., Katz, D., & Hudson, J. (1993). Anorexia nervosa and "reverse anorexia" among 108 male bodybuilders. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34, 406-409. doi: 10.1016/0010-440X(93)90066-D
66. Pope, H., Olivardia, R., Gruber, A., & Borowiecki, J. (1999). Evolving ideals of male body image as seen through action toys. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 26, 65-72. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199907)26:1<65::AID-EAT8>3.0.CO;2-D
67. Quinlivan, E., & Leary, M. (2005). Women's perceptions of their bodies: Discrepancies between self-appraisals and reflected appraisals. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 24, 1139-1163. doi: 10.1521/jscp.2005.24.8.1139
68. Quinn, D. M., Kallen, R. W., Twenge, J. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). The disruptive effect of self-objectification on performance. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 59-64. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00262.x
69. Rodin, J., Silberstein, L., & Striegel-Moore, R. (1985). Women and weight: A normative discontent. In T. B. Sondereregger (Ed.), Psychology and gender (pp. 267-307). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
70. Rohlinger, D. (2002). Eroticizing men: Cultural influences on advertising and male objectification. Sex Roles, 46, 61-74. doi: 10.1023/A:1016575909173
71. Saguy, T., Quinn, D. M., Dovidio, J. F., & Pratto, F. (2010). Interacting like a body: Objectification can lead women to narrow their presence in social interactions. Psychological Science, 2, 178-182. doi: 10.1177/0956797609357751
72. Sanchez, D., & Kwang, T. (2007). When the relationship becomes her: Revisiting women's body concerns from a relationship contingency perspective. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31, 401-414. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00389.x
73. Schmader, T., Johns, M., & Forbes, C. (2008). An integrated process model of stereotype threat effects on performance. Psychological Review 115, 336-356. doi: 10.1037/0033-295X.115.2.336
74. Sinclair, S. (2006). Object lessons: A theoretical and empirical study of objectified body consciousness in women. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 28, 48-69.
75. Slater, A.,& Tiggemann, M. (2002). A test of objectification theory in adolescent girls. Sex Roles, 46, 343-349. doi: 10.1023/A:10202 32714705
76. Smith, J. L., Sansone, C., & White, P. (2007). The stereotyped task engagement process: The role of interest and achievement motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 99-114;. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.99.1.99
77. Smolak, L.,& Levine,M. (2001).Body image in children. Body image, eating disorders, and obesity in youth: Assessment, prevention, and treatment (pp. 41-66). Washington, DC: American Psychologica Association doi: 10.1037/10404-002
78. Spencer, S., Steele, C., & Quinn, D. (1999). Stereotype threat and women's math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35, 4-28. doi: 10.1006/jesp.1998.1373
79. Steele, C., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 797-811. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797
80. Steele, J. (2003). Children's gender stereotypes about math: The role of stereotype stratification. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33, 2587-2606. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb02782.x
81. Strelan, P., & Hargreaves, D. (2005). Women who objectify other women: The vicious circle of objectification? Sex Roles, 52, 707-712. doi: 10.1007/s11199-005-3737-3
82. Stunkard, A. J., Sorenson, T. I., & Schulsinger, F. (1983). Use of the Danish Adoption Register for the study of obesity and thinness. In S. Kety, L. P. Rowland, R. L., Sidman, & S. W. Matthysse (Eds.), The genetics of neurological and psychiatric disorders (pp. 115-120). New York, NY: Raven Press.
83. Swim, J., Hyers, L., Cohen, L., & Ferguson, M. (2001). Everyday sexism: Evidence for its incidence, nature, and psychological impact from three daily diary studies. Journal of Social Issues, 57, 31-53. doi: 10.1111/0022-4537.00200
84. Thompson, J. K. (1990). Body image disturbance assessment and treatment. New York, NY: Pergamon Press.
85. Thompson, J. K., & Altabe, M. (1991). Psychometric qualities of the Figure Rating Scale. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 10, 615-619. doi: 10.1002/1098-108X(199109)10:5<615::AIDEAT2260100514>3.0.CO;2-K
86. Tiggemann, M., & Boundy, M. (2008). Effect of environment and appearance compliment on college women's selfobjectification, mood, body shame, and cognitive performance Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 399-405. doi: 10.1111j.1471-6402.2008.00453.x
87. Tiggemann, M., Martins, Y., & Kirkbride, A. (2007). Oh to be lea and muscular: Body image ideals in gay and heterosexual men. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 8, 15-24. doi: 10.1037/ 1524-9220.8.1.15
88. Vandello, J., Bosson, J., Cohen, D., Burnaford, R., & Weaver, J. (2008). Precarious manhood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1325-1339. doi: 10.1037/a0012453
89. Vescio, T. K., Gervais, S. J., Snyder, M., & Hoover, A. (2005). Power and the creation of patronizing environments: The stereotype-based behaviors of the powerful and their effects on female performance in masculine domains. Journal of Personalit and Social Psychology, 88, 658-672. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.88.4.658
90. Walton, G., & Cohen, G. (2007). A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 82-96. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.92.1.82
91. Weiner, K.E., & Thompson, J. K. (1997).Overt and covert sexual abuse: Relationship to body image and eating disturbance. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 22, 273-285. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-108X(199711)22:3<273::AID-EAT6>3.0.CO;2-K
92. Wiseman, M., & Moradi, B. (2010). Body image and eating disorder symptoms in sexual minority men: A test and extension of objectification theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57, 154-166. doi: 10.1037/a0018937
93. Young, I. M. (2003). Breasted experience: The look and the feeling. In R. Weitz (Ed.), The politics of women's bodies (pp. 152-163). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.