Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

438

Date

2011

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Counseling Psychology

Committee Chair

Sara K Bridges

Committee Member

Corinna Ethington

Committee Member

Brian K Schilling

Committee Member

Sharon G Horne

Abstract

As the result of living in a culture that increasingly places importance oh physical appearance, both men and women are sexually objectified by others. This leads to harmful objectification of the self and past research has shown self-objectification to predict decreased self-esteem and greater body image disturbances and sexual self-consciousness. However, the direct effects of sexual objectification by others were not examined. Further, most studies on the topic focused on the experiences of women and did not allow for the exploration of the positive experiences of being sexually objectified, despite evidence that they existed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine experiences of being sexually objectified by others and how those experiences predict self-esteem, body image disturbance, and sexual self-consciousness. The study analyzed responses from 179 men and 184 women. Results showed that both men and women endorsed being objectified and reported a range of subjective responses. Additionally, regression analyses showed experiences of objectification by others to be predictive of increased self-esteem, sexual self-consciousness, and body image disturbance in women, while no significant relationships were found among the men. Limitations are discussed and the implications for how these results may inform and influence researchers and mental health professionals are provided.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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