Trio of terror (pregnancy, menstruation, and breastfeeding): An existential function of literal self-objectification among women.

Abstract

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.

Falsifying the Dehumanization Hypothesis

“…According to work they reference, individuals sometimes dehumanize out-group members and sometimes dehumanize in-group members. Sometimes they even dehumanize themselves (Morris et al, 2014). If we sometimes dehumanize individuals we like and protect, then why should we assume that dehumanization ever has a causal relationship to harm?…”

The Social Interaction Model of Objectification: A process model of goal‐based objectifying exchanges between men and women

“…When looking at themselves in a mirror, for example, women high on trait selfobjectification report that their physical appearance attributes are more important to their self-concept than their non-physical internal attributes (Fredrickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn, & Twenge, 1998; see also Hebl, King, & Lin, 2004;Martins, Tiggemann, & Churchett, 2008;Quinn, Kallen, & Cathey, 2006). Women also attribute themselves less warmth, competence, morality, and humanness (Loughnan, Baldissarri, Spaccatini, & Elder, 2017) and tend to implicitly associate themselves with objects (Morris, Goldenberg, & Heflick, 2014).…”

Discounting Humanity: When Consumers are Price Conscious, Employees Appear Less Human

“…This measure has been used extensively in the dehumanization literature (e.g., Bastian & Haslam, ; Gwinn, Judd, & Park, ; Zhang, Chan, & Cao, ). We supplemented this list with additional traits identified in the literature on (de)humanization and social perception (Goodwin, Piazza, & Rozin, ; Morris, Goldenberg, & Boyd, ; Morris, Goldenberg, & Heflick, ; Park, Haslam, & Kashima, ).…”