A test of Objectification Theory in adolescent girls

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research,  May, 2002  by Amy Slater,  Marika Tiggemann

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Objectification Theory, recently proposed by Fredrickson and Roberts (1997), attempts to understand the consequences of being female in a society that sexually objectifies the female body. Sexual objectification occurs when a woman's body is treated as an object (especially as an object that exists for the pleasure and use of others), and is illustrated interpersonally through gaze or "checking out," and in the representation of women in the media. As such sexual objectification is not within a woman's control, very few women are completely able to avoid contexts that may be potentially objectifying. Of central importance to Objectification Theory, however, is the proposal that the pervasiveness of sexual objectification in our society influences girls and women to internalise the views present in society and to begin viewing themselves in the same way. That is, girls and women gradually learn to adopt an observer's perspective on their physical selves and to treat themselves as an object to be looked at and evaluated on the basis of appearance. Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) term this particular perspective "self-objectification," and describe it as a form of self-consciousness that is characterised by habitual and constant self-monitoring of one's outward appearance.

Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) propose that the constant monitoring of appearance accompanying self-objectification has a number of negative behavioural and experiential consequences. In particular, internalising an observer's objectifying perspective leads to increased levels of shame about one's body and increased levels of appearance anxiety. These experiences arise partly because it is virtually impossible for women to match the current culturally prescribed ideal image of beauty. Further, habitual self-monitoring of outward appearance reduces the perceptual resources available for attending to inner body experiences, and therefore results in a diminished awareness of internal body states. Finally, self objectification is thought to limit women's opportunities for peak motivational states or "flow," identified by Csikszentmihalyi (1990) as a prime source of optimal experience. In turn, these negative consequences are argued to contribute to three particular psychological disorders that are experienced pre dominantly by women: unipolar depression, sexual dysfunction, and eating disorders.

Since the formal proposal of Objectification Theory, certain aspects of the model have received empirical support. In samples of undergraduate students, links have been found between self-objectification or body surveillance and body shame or disordered eating (Fredrickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn, & Twenge, 1998; McKinley, 1998, 1999; McKinley & Hyde, 1996; Noll & Fredrickson, 1998; Tiggemann & Slater, 2001). More specifically, Noll and Fredrickson (1998) and Tiggemann and Slater (2001) found body shame to mediate the relationship between self-objectification and disordered eating. Only a few studies have investigated the proposed model in older samples than undergraduate students (McKinley, 1999; Tiggemann & Lynch, 2001), but to date, no study has examined Objectification Theory in younger people.

Thus the present study aims to extend the existing research by examining the components of Objectification Theory in a sample of adolescent girls. With its greater focus on the self, adolescence may be a critical period for the development of self-objectification. Adolescence is not only a time of establishing one's identity, but also of increased self-awareness, self-consciousness, preoccupation with image, and concern with social acceptance (Harter, 1999). Thus the self-monitoring and concern with external appearance intrinsic to self-objectification may be particularly salient. A number of studies have shown that the majority of adolescent girls suffer dissatisfaction with their bodies and wish to be thinner (e.g., Attie & Brooks-Gunn, 1989; Thompson, Coovert, Richards, Johnson, & Cattarin, 1995), with many engaging in dieting or other unhealthy weight loss behaviours (e.g., French, Perry, Leon, & Fulkerson, 1995; Stice, Killen, Hayward, & Taylor, 1998). The eating disorders of anorexia and bulimia nervosa also typically have their onset during late adolescence (Beumont & Touyz, 1985).

The present study also included a sample of girls who currently participate in classical ballet. Although Objectification Theory assumes that all women exist in a culture in which their bodies are always potentially objectified, objectification will not affect all individuals equally. Certain situations that accentuate women's awareness of observers' perspectives on their bodies are likely to enhance self-objectification. One group that might be expected to be particularly high in self-objectification are female ballet dancers. Dancers not only perform on stage where their bodies are looked at by others, but also spend several hours a day practising in front of mirrors scrutinising their own bodies. Further, it has been suggested that women who are identified as "at-risk" for eating disorders may objectify their bodies more than other groups of women (McKinley & Hyde, 1996). A high incidence of eating disorders has been shown among both professional dancers (Hamilton, BrooksGunn, & Warren, 1986; Pierce & Dale ng, 1998), and ballet students (Abraham, 1996a, 1996b, Garner & Garfinkel, 1980; LeGrange, Tibbs, & Noakes, 1994; Neumarker, Bettle, Bettle, Dudeck, & Neumarker, 1998; Neumarker, Bettle, Neumarker, & Bettle, 2000). Recently, Tiggemann and Slater (2001) reported that adult former students of classical ballet scored more highly on measures of self-objectification, self-monitoring, and disordered eating than women who had never studied classical ballet. As yet, however, there has been no examination of self-objectification within a current "at risk" group.