Women are objectified through overt sexualization and through a focus on physical appearance, but empirical research has not yet made this distinction. In three studies, we found evidence consistent with the hypothesis that although both forms of objectification strip women of their humanness, there are unique dehumanizing signatures associated with each. When women were objectified by a focus on their sexual features or functions ( sexual objectification), they were perceived as lacking uniquely human attributes (i.e., animalistic dehumanization). Conversely, when women were objectified by an emphasis on their beauty or physical appearance ( appearance-focused objectification), they were perceived as lacking human nature (i.e., mechanistic dehumanization). In Study 3, we also examined an outcome associated with women's risk of harm and found that mechanistic dehumanization, in response to appearance-focused objectification, uniquely promoted the perception that a woman was less capable of feeling pain. Implications for objectification research are discussed.
Research and theorizing suggest that objectification entails perceiving a person not as a human being but, quite literally, as an object. However, the motive to regard the self as an object is not well understood. The current research tested the hypothesis that literal self-objectification can serve a terror management function. From this perspective, the female body poses a unique existential threat on account of its role in reproduction, and regarding the self as an object is posited to shield women from this threat because objects, in contrast to humans, are not mortal. Across 5 studies, 3 operationalizations of literal self-objectification were employed (a denial of essentially human traits to the self, overlap in the explicit assignment of traits to the self and objects, and implicit associations between self and objects using an implicit association test) in response to 3 aspects of women's bodies involved in reproduction (pregnancy, menstruation, and breastfeeding). In each study, priming mortality led women (but not men, included in Studies 1, 3, 4, and 5) to literally self-objectify in conditions where women's reproductive features were salient. In addition, literal self-objectification was found to mediate subsequent responsiveness to death-related stimuli (Study 4). Together, these findings are the first to demonstrate a direct link between mortality salience, women's role in reproduction, and their self-objectification, supporting an existential function of self-objectification in women.
IMPORTANCE Understanding patterns of sun-protective behaviors and their association with sunburn can provide important insight into measurement approaches and intervention targets.OBJECTIVE To assess whether decision-based modeling can be used to identify patterns of sunprotective behaviors associated with the likelihood of sunburn and to compare the predictive value of this method with traditional (ie, composite score) measurement approaches.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis cross-sectional study used a nationally representative sample of 31 162 US adults from the 2015 National Health Interview Survey, consisting of household interviews conducted in person and completed by telephone when necessary. Participants included civilian noninstitutionalized US adults. Data were collected from January 1 through December 31, 2015.
The terror management health model (TMHM) suggests that when thoughts of death are accessible people become increasingly motivated to bolster their self-esteem relative to their health, because doing so offers psychological protection against mortality concerns. Two studies examined sun protection intentions as a function of mortality reminders and an appearance-based intervention. In Study 1, participants given a sun protection message that primed mortality and shown a UV-filtered photo of their face reported greater intentions to use sun protection on their face, and took more sunscreen samples than participants shown a regular photo of their face. In Study 2, reminders of mortality increased participants’ intentions to use facial sun protection when the UV photo was specifically framed as revealing appearance consequences of tanning, compared to when the photo was framed as revealing health consequences, or when no photo was shown. These findings extend the terror management health model, and provide preliminary evidence that appearance-based tanning interventions have a greater influence on sun protection intentions under conditions that prime thoughts of death. We discuss implications of the findings, and highlight the need for additional research examining the applicability to long-term tanning behavior.
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