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Grounded in aspects of objectification theory, social learning theory, and attachment theory, we investigated the extent to which mothers' and daughters' selfobjectification were related to one another's and also identified three potential intervening factors. Specifically, we hypothesized a (statistical) direct effect of mothers' selfobjectification on that of their daughters' (H1), as well as investigated a conditional direct effect (i.e., maternal care) (H2) and two indirect effects (i.e., co-rumination and mothers' weight concerns) (H3) as intervening factors that may help explain the relationship between mothers' and daughters' self-objectification. A sample of 199 U.S. undergraduate women and their mothers completed an online survey; daughters and mothers mean ages were 19.42 and 50.15, respectively, with a majority of them reporting a normal body mass index (daughters: 23.05; mothers: 25.74) and being White/Caucasian (daughters: 79.4 %; mothers: 80.9 %). The results generally supported the hypotheses. First, H1 was confirmed: Mothers' and daughters' self-objectification were positively related to one another's. Second, perceived maternal care was found to moderate this relationship, such that daughters reported higher levels of self-objectification when they perceived their mothers to be less caring; thus, H2 was confirmed. Third, H3 was partially confirmed: Perceived corumination about weight with mothers, but not perceived mothers' weight-related concerns, was found to be a significant mediator. These results suggest that mothers can serve as protective or inhibitory factors in daughters' experience of self-objectification depending on mothers' level of care and their direct communication with their daughters' about their bodies.

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This paper develops and tests a comprehensive psychological model of how narrative messages persuade. In this model, perceived realism and perceived similarity are considered as the antecedents of narrative engagement variables. There are three forms of narrative engagement, transportation, identification, and parasocial interaction, which are conceptualized as the primary mediating mechanisms. Message elaboration and psychological reactance are proposed as the secondary mediating mechanisms. A web-based study (N = 374) was conducted to test this complex model. Four video clips on sexual health topics from wellknown television series were used as the stimuli. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analyses showed that perceived realism and perceived similarity were antecedents of narrative engagement. There was conceptual overlap between the narrative engagement variables, but they remained distinct from each other. There was no unique effect on persuasion from parasocial interaction. There was evidence for direct effects on persuasion from transportation and identification, as well as their indirect effects through reducing psychological reactance. However, message elaboration was found to be negatively associated with message perception. Implications for narrative communication in general and future studies were discussed.