The Role of Self-Objectification in the Experience of Women with Eating Disorders
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2005
Keywords
self-objectification eating disorders internalization sociocultural
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-1192-9
Abstract
Objectification theory has linked self-objectification to negative emotional experiences and disordered eating behavior in cultures that sexually objectify the female body. This link has not been empirically tested in a clinical sample of women with eating disorders. In the present effort, 209 women in residential treatment for eating disorders completed self-report measures of self-objectification, body shame, media influence, and drive for thinness on admission to treatment. Results demonstrated that the internalization of appearance ideals from the media predicted self-objectification, whereas using the media as an informational source about appearance and feeling pressured to conform to media ideals did not. Self-objectification partially mediated the relationship between internalized appearance ideals and drive for thinness; internalized appearance ideals continued to be an independent predictor of variance. In accordance with objectification theory, body shame partially mediated the relationship between self-objectification and drive for thinness in women with eating disorders; self-objectification continued to be an independent predictor of variance. These results illustrate the importance of understanding and targeting the experience of self-objectification in women with eating disorders or women at risk for eating disorders.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Sex Roles, v. 52, issue 1-2, p. 43-50
Scholar Commons Citation
Calogero, Rachel; Davis, William; and Thompson, Joel K., "The Role of Self-Objectification in the Experience of Women with Eating Disorders" (2005). Psychology Faculty Publications. 2189.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/psy_facpub/2189
