Women Objectifying Women: The Impact of Social Power
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Category
Social Sciences/Humanities
Abstract/Artist Statement
Objectification Theory (OT) states that women’s humanity is reduced to being an object whose sole purpose is to give men physical pleasure. OT explains why men objectify women and why women objectify themselves but does not explain why women objectify other women. Research has found that participants primed to experience high- or low-power objectified others in a work relationship more than those primed to experience equal-power. The current study aimed to examine if this finding would replicate to women engaging in sexual and beauty objectification and dehumanization towards other women. 330 cisgender, heterosexual college women were primed to experience high-, equal-, or low-power via a writing prompt. After being primed to a power condition, participants filled out measures of sexual objectification, beauty objectification, dehumanization, sense of power, and desire for power. A multivariate analysis of covariance was used to determine if beauty objectification, sexual objectification, or dehumanization varied by power condition. No significant differences were detected. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to examine if a continuous sense of power variable could predict women’s beauty objectification, sexual objectification, or dehumanization of others. Results indicated that sense of power is related to objectification and dehumanization, but their relationships with sense of power differ. Sexual objectification has a curvilinear relationship with sense of power, dehumanization has a linear positive association with sense of power, and beauty objectification has no relationship with sense of power. This research underscores how risk factors for dehumanization, broadly, may change drastically depending on the type of dehumanization occurring. If we understand what levels of power lead to the greatest objectification and dehumanization, we can identify who to target when creating prevention methods for objectification and dehumanization. Potentially reducing the risk for depression, disordered eating, anxiety, and trauma that is known to correlate with experiencing dehumanization.
Mentor Name
Sarah E Attaway
Women Objectifying Women: The Impact of Social Power
UC 326
Objectification Theory (OT) states that women’s humanity is reduced to being an object whose sole purpose is to give men physical pleasure. OT explains why men objectify women and why women objectify themselves but does not explain why women objectify other women. Research has found that participants primed to experience high- or low-power objectified others in a work relationship more than those primed to experience equal-power. The current study aimed to examine if this finding would replicate to women engaging in sexual and beauty objectification and dehumanization towards other women. 330 cisgender, heterosexual college women were primed to experience high-, equal-, or low-power via a writing prompt. After being primed to a power condition, participants filled out measures of sexual objectification, beauty objectification, dehumanization, sense of power, and desire for power. A multivariate analysis of covariance was used to determine if beauty objectification, sexual objectification, or dehumanization varied by power condition. No significant differences were detected. Hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted to examine if a continuous sense of power variable could predict women’s beauty objectification, sexual objectification, or dehumanization of others. Results indicated that sense of power is related to objectification and dehumanization, but their relationships with sense of power differ. Sexual objectification has a curvilinear relationship with sense of power, dehumanization has a linear positive association with sense of power, and beauty objectification has no relationship with sense of power. This research underscores how risk factors for dehumanization, broadly, may change drastically depending on the type of dehumanization occurring. If we understand what levels of power lead to the greatest objectification and dehumanization, we can identify who to target when creating prevention methods for objectification and dehumanization. Potentially reducing the risk for depression, disordered eating, anxiety, and trauma that is known to correlate with experiencing dehumanization.