Skip to main content
Log in

The Effect of Thin Ideal Media Images on Women’s Self-Objectification, Mood, and Body Image

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206, 1997) contends that experiences of sexual objectification socialize women to engage in self-objectification. The present study used an experimental design to examine the effects of media images on self-objectification. A total of 90 Australian undergraduate women aged 18 to 35 were randomly allocated to view magazine advertisements featuring a thin woman, advertisements featuring a thin woman with at least one attractive man, or advertisements in which no people were featured. Participants who viewed advertisements featuring a thin-idealized woman reported greater state self-objectification, weight-related appearance anxiety, negative mood, and body dissatisfaction than participants who viewed product control advertisements. The results demonstrate that self-objectification can be stimulated in women without explicitly focusing attention on their own bodies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Botta, R. A. (2003). For your health? The relationship between magazine reading and adolescents’ body image and eating disturbances. Sex Roles, 48, 389–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calogero, R. M. (2004). A test of objectification theory: the effect of male gaze on appearance concerns in college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28, 16–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., Roberts, T. A., Noll, S. M., Quinn, D. M., & Twenge, J. M. (1998). That swimsuit becomes you: sex differences in self-objectification, restrained eating, and math performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 269–284.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gapinski, K. D., Brownell, K. D., & La France, M. (2003). Body objectification and “fat talk”: Effects on emotion, motivation, and cognitive performance. Sex Roles, 48, 377–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrow, J. S., & Webster, B. S. (1985). Quetelet’s Index (W/H2) as a measure of fatness. International Journal of Obesity, 9, 147–153.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Groesz, L. M., Levine, M. P., & Murnen, S. K. (2002). The effect of experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction: a meta-analytic review. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 1–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, C. C. I., & Crum, M. J. (1994). Women and “body-isms” in television beer commercials. Sex Roles, 31, 329–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, K. (2000). Television viewing, fat stereotyping, body shape standards, and eating disorder symptomology in grade school children. Communication Research, 27, 617–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, K., & Cantor, J. (1997). The relationship between media consumption and eating disorders. Journal of Communication, 47, 40–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, K., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2003). Women’s sports media, self-objectification, and mental health in black and white adolescent females. Journal of Communication, 6, 216–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hebl, M. R., King, E. B., & Lin, J. (2004). The swimsuit becomes us all: ethnicity, gender, and vulnerability to self-objectification. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1322–1331.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heinberg, L. J., & Thompson, J. K. (1995). Body image and televised images of thinness and attractiveness: a controlled laboratory investigation. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 14, 325–338.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilbourne, J. (1994). Still killing us softly: advertising and the obsession with thinness. In P. Fallon, M. A. Katzman, & S. C. Wooley (Eds.) Feminist perspectives on eating disorders (pp. 395–437). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malkin, A. R., Wornian, K., & Chrisler, J. C. (1999). Women and weight: gendered messages on magazine covers. Sex Roles, 40, 647–656.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mills, J. S., Polivy, J., Herman, C. P., & Tiggemann, M. (2002). Effects of exposure to thin media images: evidence of self-enhancement among restrained eaters. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1687–1699.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miner-Rubino, K., Twenge, J. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2002). Trait self-objectification in women: affective and personality correlates. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 147–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morry, M. M., & Staska, S. L. (2001). Magazine exposure: internalization, self-objectification, eating attitudes, and body satisfaction in male and female university students. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 33, 269–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noll, S. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (1998). A mediational model linking self-objectification, body shame, and disordered eating. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 22, 623–636.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, D. M., Kallen, R. W., Twenge, J. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). The disruptive effect of self-objectification on performance. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 59–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed, D. L., Thompson, J. K., Brannick, M. T., & Sacco, W. P. (1991). Development and validation of the Physical Appearance State and Trait Anxiety Scale (PASTAS). Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 5, 323–332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, T., & Gettman, J. Y. (2004). Mere exposure: gender differences in the negative effects of priming a state of self-objectification. Sex Roles, 51, 17–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodin, J., Silberstein, L., & Striegel-Moore, R. (1985). Women and weight: a normative discontent. In T. B. Sonderegger (Ed.) Nebraska symposium on motivation: vol. 32. Psychology and gender (pp. 267–307). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverstein, B., Perdue, L., Peterson, B., & Kelly, E. (1986). The role of the mass media in promoting a thin standard of bodily attractiveness for women. Sex Roles, 14, 519–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stice, E., & Shaw, H. (1994). Adverse effects of the media portrayed thin-ideal on women and linkages to bulimic symptomology. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 13, 288–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiggemann, M., & Kuring, J. K. (2004). The role of body objectification in disordered eating and depressed mood. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43, 299–311.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tiggemann, M., & Lynch, J. (2001). Body image across the life span in adult women: The role of self-objectification. Developmental Psychology, 37, 243–253.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tiggemann, M., & McGill, B. (2004). The role of social comparison in the effect of magazine advertisements on women’s mood and body dissatisfaction. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 23, 23–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2001). A test of objectification theory in former dancers and non-dancers. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25, 57–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. K., Heinberg, L. J., Altabe, M., & Tantleff-Dunn, S. (1999). Exacting beauty: theory, assessment, and treatment of body image disturbance. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. K., & Stice, E. (2001). Thin-ideal internalization: mounting evidence for a new risk factor for body-image disturbance and eating pathology. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 181–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marika Tiggemann.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Harper, B., Tiggemann, M. The Effect of Thin Ideal Media Images on Women’s Self-Objectification, Mood, and Body Image. Sex Roles 58, 649–657 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9379-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9379-x

Keywords

Navigation