Trait Self-Objectification in Women: Affective and Personality Correlates

Objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) predicts that taking an observer's perspective on one's body (known as self-objectification) leads to negative mental health outcomes. In this study, 98 college-aged women completed measures of trait self-objectification, body shame,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of research in personality 2002-04, Vol.36 (2), p.147-172
Main Authors: Miner-Rubino, Kathi, Twenge, Jean M., Fredrickson, Barbara L.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) predicts that taking an observer's perspective on one's body (known as self-objectification) leads to negative mental health outcomes. In this study, 98 college-aged women completed measures of trait self-objectification, body shame, Neuroticism, and depression to test these predictions. Participants also completed a measure of Big Five personality traits. Trait self-objectification showed significant positive correlations with each of the measures of negative affect. Trait self-objectification was also negatively correlated with the personality traits Agreeableness and Intellect. There were no significant correlations between trait self-objectification and Extraversion or Conscientiousness. Regression analysis demonstrated that trait self-objectification accounts for a significant amount of variance in negative affectivity above and beyond other personality influences.
ISSN:0092-6566
1095-7251
DOI:10.1006/jrpe.2001.2343