Skip to main content
Log in

Addressing Gender and Cultural Diversity in Body Image: Objectification Theory as a Framework for Integrating Theories and Grounding Research

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

Abstract

This article discusses the promise of objectification theory as a framework for consolidating extant theories, integrating findings across the studies in the current issue, and grounding future research on body image and eating problems across diverse populations. Specifically, this article (a) provides an overview of objectification theory and describes its promise for addressing gender and cultural diversity, (b) articulates aspects of overlap and distinction between objectification theory and several other influential frameworks, (c) describes the advancements made by the research presented in this issue relative to the 15 recommendations offered in Moradi and Huang’s (2008) review of the past decade of objectification theory research, and (d) concludes with suggestions for further advancements in body image research grounded in objectification theory.

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

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ålgars, M., & Santilla, P. (2010). Conflicted gender identity, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating in adult men and women. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • Aubrey, J. S. (2010). Looking good versus feeling good: An investigation of media frames of health advice and their effects on women’s body-related self-perceptions. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • Buchanan, T. S., Fischer, A. R., Tokar, D. M., & Yoder, J. D. (2008). Testing a culture-specific extension of objectification theory regarding African American women’s body image. The Counseling Psychologist, 36, 699–718.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cachelin, F. M., Rebeck, R., Veisel, C., & Striegel-Moore, R. H. (2001). Barriers to treatment for eating disorders among ethnically diverse women. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 30, 269–278.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Calogero, R. M., Pina, A., Park, L. E., & Rahemtulla, Z. (2010). Objectification theory predicts college women’s attitudes toward cosmetic surgery. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • Cashel, M. L., Cunningham, D., Landeros, C., Cokley, K. O., & Muhammad, G. (2003). Sociocultural attitudes and symptoms of bulimia: Evaluating the SATAQ with diverse college groups. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50, 287–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conner-Greene, P. A., Striegel-Moore, R. H., & Cronan, S. (1994). Perceived social climate and weight preoccupation in college women. Eating Disorders, 2, 126–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1982). Toward a psychology of optimal experience. In L. Wheeler (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology. Beverly Hills: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikzentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow. New York: Harper Perennial.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, M. B., & Meyer, I. H. (2007). Childhood abuse and eating disorders in gay and bisexual men. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 40, 418–423.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Field, A. E., Camargo, C. A., Taylor, C. B., Berkey, C. S., & Colditz, G. A. (1999). Relation of peer and media influences to the development of purging behaviors among preadolescent and adolescent girls. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 153, 1184–1189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T.-A. (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., 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 

  • Graber, J. A., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1996). Growing up female: Navigating body image, eating, and depressive problems. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Problems, 5, 76–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graber, J. A., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2001). Co-occurring eating and depressive problems: An 8-year study of adolescent girls. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 30, 37–47.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Graber, J. A., Tyrka, A. R., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2003). How similar are correlates of different subclinical eating problems and Bulimia Nervosa? Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 262–273.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Greene, B. (1994). African-American women: Derivatives of racism and sexism in psychotherapy. In B. Rosoff & E. Toback (Eds.), Genes and gender series, Vol. 7, Challenging racism and sexism: Alternatives to genetic determinism (pp. 122–139). New York: Feminist Press.

    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 

  • Harris, D. J., & Kuba, S. A. (1997). Ethnocultural identity and eating disorders is women of color. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 28, 341–347.

    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 

  • Jacobi, C., Hayward, C., de Zwann, M., Kraemer, H. C., & Agras, W. S. (2004). Coming to terms with risk factors for eating disorders: Application of risk terminology and suggestions for a general taxonomy. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 19–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J., Forbes, G. B., & Chan. P. (2010). Global body and muscle satisfaction among college men in the United States and Hong Kong-China. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • Karazsia, B. T., & Crowther, J. H. (2008). Psychological and behavioral correlates of the SATAQ-3 with males. Body Image, 5, 109–115.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, S. B., & Mahalik, J. R. (2004). Measuring masculine body ideal distress: Development of a measure. International Journal of Men’s Health, 3, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kimmel, S. B., & Mahalik, J. R. (2005). Body image concerns of gay men: The roles of minority stress and conformity to masculine norms. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 1185–1190.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kozee, H. B., & Tylka, T. L. (2006). A test of objectification theory with lesbian women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 348–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kozee, H. B., Tylka, T. L., Augustus-Horvath, C. L., & Denchik, A. (2007). Development and psychometric evaluation of the interpersonal sexual objectification scale. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31, 176–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larkin, J., Rice, C., & Russell, V. (1996). Slipping through the cracks: Sexual harassment, eating problems, and the problem of embodiment. Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention, 4, 5–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levesque, M. J., & Vichesky, D. R. (2006). Raising the bar on the body beautiful: An analysis of the body image concerns of homosexual men. Body Image, 3, 45–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahalik, J. R., Locke, B. D., Ludlow, L. H., Diemer, M. A., Scott, R. P., Gottfried, M., et al. (2003). Development of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 4, 3–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martins, Y., Tiggemann, M., & Kirkbride, A. (2007). Those speedos become them: The role of self-objectification in gay and heterosexual men’s body image. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 634–647.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McKinley, N. M. (1998). Gender differences in undergraduates’ body esteem: The mediating effect of objectified body consciousness and actual/ideal weight discrepancy. Sex Roles, 39, 113–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinley, N. M. (1999). Women and objectified body consciousness: Mothers’ and daughters’ body experience in cultural, developmental, and familial context. Developmental Psychology, 35, 760–769.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McKinley, N. M., & Hyde, J. S. (1996). The Objectified Body Consciousness Scale: Development and validation. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 181–215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, K. S., & Mazzeo, S. E. (2004). Binge eating and psychological distress in ethnically diverse undergraduate men and women. Eating Behaviors, 5, 157–169.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, K. S., & Mazzeo, S. E. (2009). Evaluation of a structural model of objectification theory and eating disorder symptomatology among European American and African American undergraduate women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 384–395.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moradi, B., & Huang, Y. P. (2008). Objectification theory and psychology of women: A decade of advances and future directions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 377–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moradi, B., & Rottenstein, A. (2007). Objectification theory and Deaf cultural identity attitudes: Roles in Deaf women’s eating disorder symptomatology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 178–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moradi, B., DeBlaere, C., & Huang, Y. P. (2010). Centralizing the experiences of LGB people of color in counseling psychology. The Counseling Psychologist, 38, 322–330.

    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 Sciences, 33, 269–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muise, A., & Demarais, S. (2010). Women’s perceptions and use of “anti-aging” products. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • Murnen, S. K., & Smolak, L. (2000). The experience of sexual harassment among grade-school students: Early socialization of female subordination? Sex Roles, 43, 1–17.

    Article  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 

  • Overstreet, N. M., Quinn, D. M., & Agovha, V. B. (2010). Beyond thinness: The influence of a curvaceous body ideal on body dissatisfaction in Black and White women. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • Parent, M. C., & Moradi, B. (2009). Confirmatory factor analysis of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory and development of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory-46. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 10, 175–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, E. M., & Betz, N. E. (2001). The relationship of participation in sports and physical activity to body objectification, instrumentality, and locus of control among young women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 25, 209–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perez, M., Voelz, Z. R., Pettit, J. W., & Joiner, T. (2002). The role of acculturative stress and body dissatisfaction in predicting bulimic symptomatology across ethnic groups. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 31, 442–452.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Piran, N. (1998). A participatory approach to prevention of eating disorders in a school. In W. Vandereycken & G. Noordenbos (Eds.), The prevention of eating disorders (pp. 173–186). London: Athlone.

    Google Scholar 

  • Presnell, K., & Stice, E. (2003). An experimental test of the effect of weight-loss dieting on bulimic pathology: Tipping the scales in a different direction. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 166–170.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ricciardelli, R., Clow, K. A., & White, P. (2010). Investigating hegemonic masculinity: Portrayals of masculinity in men’s lifestyle magazines. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • Rolnik, A. M., Engeln-Maddox, R., & Miller, S. A. (2010). Here’s looking at you: Self-objectification, body image disturbance, and sorority rush. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • Root, M. P. P. (1990). Disordered eating in women of color. Sex Roles, 22, 525–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slater, A., & Tiggemann, M. (2002). A test of objectification theory in adolescent girls. Sex Roles, 46, 343–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slater, A., & Tiggemann, M. (2010). Body image and disordered eating in adolescent girls and boys: A test of objectification theory. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • Smolak, L., & Murnen, S. H. (2001). Gender and eating problems. In R. H. Striegel-Moore & L. Smolak (Eds.), Eating disorders: Innovative directions in research and practice (pp. 91–110). Washington: American Psychological Association.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stice, E. (2002). Risk and maintenance factors for eating pathology: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 825–848.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stice, E., & Agras, W. S. (1999). Subtyping bulimic women along dietary restraint and negative affect dimensions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67, 460–469.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stice, E., Burton, E. M., & Shaw, H. (2004). Prospective relations between bulimic pathology, depression, and substance abuse: Unpacking comorbidity in adolescent girls. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72, 62–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strong, S. M., Williamson, D. A., Netemeyer, R. G., & Geer, J. H. (2000). Eating disorder symptoms and concerns about body differ as a function of gender and sexual orientation. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 240–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. K., & Cafri, G. (2007). The muscular ideal: Psychological, social, and medical perspectives. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

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

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tiggemann, M., & Miller, J. (2010). The Internet and adolescent girls’ weight satisfaction and drive for thinness. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • 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 

  • Tylka, T. L., & Sabik, N. J. (2010). Integrating social comparison theory and self-esteem within objectification theory to predict women’s disordered eating. Sex Roles, this issue.

  • van den Berg, P., Thompson, J. K., Obremski-Brandon, K., & Coovert, M. (2002). The tripartite influence model of body image and eating disturbance: A covariance structure modeling investigation testing the mediational role of appearance comparison. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 53, 1007–1020.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vander Wal, J. S., & Thomas, N. (2004). Predictors of body image dissatisfaction and disturbed eating attitudes and behaviors in African American and Hispanic girls. Eating Behaviors, 5, 291–301.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, C. S. (2008). The influence of awareness and internalization of Western appearance ideals on body dissatisfaction in Euro-American and Hispanic males. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 9, 257–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiner, K., & Thompson, J. K. (1997). Overt and covert sexual abuse: Relationship to body image and eating disturbance. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 22, 273–285.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wiseman, M. C., & Moradi, B. (2010). Body image and eating disorder symptoms in sexual minority men: A test and extension of objectification theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57, 154–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bonnie Moradi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Moradi, B. Addressing Gender and Cultural Diversity in Body Image: Objectification Theory as a Framework for Integrating Theories and Grounding Research. Sex Roles 63, 138–148 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9824-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9824-0

Keywords

Navigation