Sex Roles (2008) 58:649–657

DOI 10.1007/s11199-007-9379-x

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The Effect of Thin Ideal Media Images on Women’s

Self-Objectification, Mood, and Body Image
Brit Harper & Marika Tiggemann

Published online: 16 December 2007

# Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2007

Abstract Objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts, media images would increase state self-objectification,
Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206, 1997) negative affect and body dissatisfaction in young Australian
contends that experiences of sexual objectification socialize women. In investigating the effects of experimental
women to engage in self-objectification. The present study exposure to magazine advertisements featuring thin female
used an experimental design to examine the effects of media models, the present study builds upon the existing media
images on self-objectification. A total of 90 Australian effects literature and presents a new test of Fredrickson and
undergraduate women aged 18 to 35 were randomly Roberts’ (1997) objectification theory.
allocated to view magazine advertisements featuring a thin There is no doubt that Western women are subject to a
woman, advertisements featuring a thin woman with at least great deal of pressure to conform to the thin ideal of
one attractive man, or advertisements in which no people feminine beauty. As a result, many experience body
were featured. Participants who viewed advertisements dissatisfaction in the form of weight concern, and a sizeable
featuring a thin-idealized woman reported greater state self- majority will actively seek to reduce their weight (Rodin
objectification, weight-related appearance anxiety, negative et al. 1985). Current sociocultural theory offers the most
mood, and body dissatisfaction than participants who viewed robust theoretical framework for understanding body
product control advertisements. The results demonstrate that dissatisfaction, contending that the thin ideal is created
self-objectification can be stimulated in women without and reinforced by a number of social influences (Thompson
explicitly focusing attention on their own bodies. et al. 1999). Among these, the mass media have been
identified as the most pervasive and the most powerful
Keywords Self-objectification . Objectification theory . (Groesz et al. 2002).
Body image . Thin ideals . Media images In particular, fashion and beauty magazines have been
accused of leading the charge in disseminating the thin
ideal (Silverstein et al. 1986). One content analysis of 69
Introduction American women magazines revealed that 94% displayed
an image of a thin-idealized model or celebrity on the cover
The present study highlights self-objectification as a (Malkin et al. 1999). By failing to present a diverse range of
previously unexamined variable that may be involved in body types, fashion magazines promote thinness as both the
the female response to media stimuli. The central purpose desired, and more insidiously, the prevailing norm for
of the study was to examine whether viewing thin-idealized women. Implicit is the suggestion that a deviation from this
thin ideal is abnormal (Kilbourne 1994). It is therefore not
surprising that thin-idealized images featured in fashion
magazines can stimulate body image disturbance in girls
and women.
B. Harper : M. Tiggemann (*)
School of Psychology, Flinders University,
Strong correlational evidence from both North American
G.P.O. Box 2100, Adelaide 5001 South Australia, Australia and Australian samples supports this link between exposure
e-mail: Marika.Tiggemann@flinders.edu.au to fashion magazines and body image. For example,
650 Sex Roles (2008) 58:649–657

viewing fashion magazines has been found to predict body Despite considerable interest in objectification theory as
dissatisfaction (Harrison and Cantor 1997; Botta 2003), an explanatory framework, few researchers have investi-
drive for thinness (Harrison and Cantor 1997), and eating gated the effects of state self-objectification by employing
disorder symptomology (Stice and Shaw 1994; Harrison experimental methods. Early experimental enquiry demon-
2000). This relationship has been found to be mediated by a strated that women’s state self-objectification can be
number of other factors, including restrained eating (Mills increased in situations where attention is explicitly focused
et al. 2002) and thin-ideal internalization (Thompson and on one’s physical appearance by trying on a swimsuit
Stice 2001). In addition, experimental research has revealed (Fredrickson et al. 1998; Hebl et al. 2004; Quinn et al.
a causal relationship between brief magazine exposure and 2006). However, self-objectification also seems to occur in
immediate body image in women. Groesz et al.’s (2002) situations in which women are not explicitly directed to
meta-analysis of this experimental research concluded that focus on their appearance. For example, Calogero (2004)
women who viewed images of thin models consistently demonstrated that the anticipation of a male gaze increased
reported poorer body image outcomes than participants self-objectification in young women. Further, exposure to
who viewed images of average weight models, plus-size sexually objectifying words has also been demonstrated to
models, or neutral objects. Effects were observed on body prime self-objectification (Roberts and Gettman 2004). In
dissatisfaction, negative mood, and self-perception of order to better understand the nature of self-objectification
physical attractiveness (Groesz et al. 2002). and its relationships with affect and body image, research
While this evidence sheds light on the potentially must continue to identify situational factors that can trigger
deleterious role of the media in contributing to women’s self-objectification.
body image disturbance, there remains a need to identify Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) suggest that one of the
the psychological mechanisms in operation during and after most common means of perpetuating sexual objectification
media exposure that create dissatisfaction with the body. is through the visual media, and that viewing images of the
The present study offers an initial exploration of the sexualized female body or images in which sexual
practice of self-objectification as a potential mechanism. objectification is depicted may increase self-objectification
Fredrickson and Roberts’ (1997) objectification theory in women. Surprisingly, very few researchers have exam-
asserts that women are uniquely subject to cultural and ined the relationship between media exposure and self-
interpersonal experiences in which the female body is objectification, and the few studies in this area are
inspected, evaluated, and treated as an object valued correlational in nature. Morry and Staska (2001) found a
primarily for its use to others. Experiences of sexual significant correlation between exposure to fashion and
objectification are posited to socialize women to adopt an beauty magazines and trait self-objectification. In contrast,
observer’s perspective of their physical selves. When en- Harrison and Fredrickson (2003) showed that adolescent
gaged in this process, which is termed self-objectification, women who read sports magazines exhibit lower levels of
attentional resources are directed to the task of monitoring trait self-objectification than those who do not regularly
and assessing these observable body characteristics. read these magazines. In a second experimental study,
Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) conceptualize self- Harrison and Fredrickson also demonstrated that exposure
objectification as both an emotional state and a personality to video footage of women playing sports that emphasize
trait. Hence, experiences of self-objectification differ across leanness elevated self-objectification in white adolescent
women. The extent to which the third-person perspective women.
has been internalized is said to determine the level of trait Although fashion magazines arguably provide the most
self-objectification, which is stable across time. In contrast, common form of media targeted towards women, research-
level of state self-objectification will fluctuate, increasing in ers have not examined the effect of experimental exposure to
situations that accentuate awareness of an observer’s images appearing in the print media using the principles of
perspective of the body (Fredrickson et al. 1998). A host objectification theory. The present study addresses this gap
of negative experiences have been associated with high trait in the existing research. The present study also aimed to
self-objectification in both North American and Australian extend the type of stimulus material typically used in media
samples, including appearance anxiety (e.g., Tiggemann effects research. Differences in content across magazine
and Slater 2001; Calogero 2004), body shame (e.g., Noll images may differentially predict body image disturbance.
and Fredrickson 1998; Tiggemann and Lynch 2001; For example, in an Australian study, Tiggemann and McGill
Tiggemann and Slater 2001), decreased intrinsic motivation (2004) found that women who viewed images of a body
and self-efficacy (e.g., Gapinski et al. 2003), disordered part of a thin model (often referred to as “body-isms”; Hall
eating (e.g., Noll and Fredrickson 1998; Tiggemann and and Crum 1994) exhibited greater body dissatisfaction than
Slater 2001), and depression (e.g., Miner-Rubino et al. women who viewed images of the full body of a thin model
2002; Tiggemann and Kuring 2004). or product control images. These body-isms objectify
Sex Roles (2008) 58:649–657 651

women by reducing their bodies to mere parts. In the Participants

current study, we aimed to use another potentially objecti-
fying form of image. Commercial images of a thin, The participants were 90 female undergraduate students of
attractive woman being looked at or touched by attractive first year psychology at Flinders University in South
men commonly occur in fashion and beauty magazines. Australia, aged between 18 and 35 years. There were 30
Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) suggest that women may participants in each of three experimental conditions.
experience objectification vicariously by viewing other
women being sexually objectified. Thus, images which Materials
featured thin-idealized females subject to male attention
were used in the present study. Viewing advertisements Experimental Manipulation: Image Type
which explicitly show an attractive man looking at a thin
woman may prime women to take a third-person perspec- Participants were randomly assigned to view one of three
tive of their own body and consequently experience more image sets: a product control set, a thin-idealized female set or
self-objectification, appearance anxiety, negative mood, and a thin-idealized female with male set. The product control set
body dissatisfaction. contained 15 full-page magazine advertisements which fea-
In sum, the present study attempted to combine two tured products without people. The thin-idealized female set
previously separate bodies of research: that in media contained 11 advertisements which featured most of the body
effects and that in self-objectification. There were two and face of a thin, attractive female model. To reduce demand
central aims. The first aim was to investigate the effect effects, this set also contained four advertisements from the
of media images that depict the thin ideal on women’s product set. The thin-idealized female with male set contained
self-objectification, in addition to appearance anxiety, 11 advertisements featuring a thin-idealized woman depicted
negative mood, and body dissatisfaction. The second as subject to attention (being looked at or touched) by at least
aim was to extend the type of stimulus used in media one man and the four product advertisements that appeared in
research by using objectifying images which feature an the thin-idealized female set. Each image was photocopied in
attractive man attending to a woman. Two major hypoth- color and presented on an A4-size laminated card.
eses were tested. The stimulus materials were drawn from 20 popular
Australian women’s fashion magazines published between
Hypothesis 1 Controlling for trait levels of self-objectification,
April and June 2006. Fashion and beauty magazines were
participants who view images featuring a thin-
chosen because they feature more advertisements depicting
idealized woman (with or without a man) will
thin-idealized women than other magazines. Titles included
exhibit higher state self-objectification, ap-
Cosmopolitan, Cleo, Vogue, Russh, Shop Til You Drop,
pearance anxiety, negative mood and body
Marie Claire, New Woman, Harper’s Bazaar and Madison.
dissatisfaction than participants who view
Specific publications were selected on the basis of
product control images.
marketing towards young adult women, thereby matching
Hypothesis 2 Controlling for trait levels of self-objectification,
the age of the sample (18 to 35 years).
viewing images featuring thin-idealized
The original pool of 81 advertisements was reduced to a
women with men will produce higher levels
set of 37 through the use of data from a pilot test. A small
of state self-objectification, appearance anx-
group of female volunteers (N=8) viewed each of the 81
iety, negative mood, and body dissatisfaction
advertisements. A series of 7-point Likert scales were used
than images featuring a thin-idealized woman
to rate the effectiveness of the advertisement and the appeal
only.
of the advertisement, and where applicable, the physical
attractiveness of the female featured and the extent to which
the woman embodied the thin ideal. Advertisements were
Method matched across conditions based on the mean scores
obtained on each of the four variables to create three
Design equivalent image sets.
The advertisements used were rated as both moderately
The study employed a between-subjects experimental effective (M=4.76, SD=1.62) and appealing (M=4.82,
design with three levels of the independent variable (image SD =1.60). One-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs)
type: product control, thin-idealized female, thin-idealized revealed that the effectiveness of the advertisements was
female with male) to investigate effects on state self- not significantly different across conditions, F(2, 261)=.16,
objectification, appearance anxiety, negative mood, and p=.86. Similarly, the appeal of the advertisements did not
body dissatisfaction. significantly differ across conditions, F(2, 261)=.54, p=.59.
652 Sex Roles (2008) 58:649–657

The women appearing in the advertisements were rated as State Self-objectification

physically attractive (M=5.79, SD=1.06) and very thin
(M=6.18, SD=.96). Physical attractiveness in the advertise- A modified version of the Twenty Statements Test used by
ments featuring women did not differ, t(174)=.50, p=.62, Fredrickson et al. (1998) measured state self-objectification.
nor did the extent to which the models embodied the thin Participants were asked to describe themselves by complet-
ideal, t(174)=.24, p=.82. It was concluded that the three ing ten sentences about their identity that begin with the
image sets were equivalent in advertising appeal and phrase “I am”. Two independent coders who were blind to
effectiveness, and the two thin ideal image sets featured experimental condition categorized participants’ responses
female models of equivalent attractiveness and thinness. into six categories: (a) body shape and size, (b) other
physical appearance, (c) physical competence, (d) traits or
Consumer Habits abilities, (e) states or emotions and (f) uncodable or
illegible. State self-objectification was operationalized as
A media consumption questionnaire catalogued partici- the number of times that a participant generated a response
pants’ history of fashion and beauty magazine exposure. from the “body shape and size” or “other physical
Participants were presented with a list of Australian appearance” categories. The two raters agreed on the
women’s magazines and asked to indicate each publica- categorization of 97.4% of the responses overall. Interrater
tion that they had looked at or read in the last month. agreement on the categorization of “body shape and size”
These were summed to produce a measure of magazine and “other physical appearance” responses was also high at
exposure. Participants were also asked to estimate the 94.0%. Thus possible state self-objectification scores ranged
amount of time spent looking at or reading each of these from 0 to 10, with a greater number of responses from the two
magazines during this time. Individual time estimates appearance-related categories indicating a higher level of
were summed to produce a measure of total time spent state self-objectification.
reading women’s magazines in the previous month. In
addition to providing information on participants’ media Appearance Anxiety
usage, this measure was included to promote belief in the
purported focus of the study which was presented as “the Following Reed et al. (1991), the Physical Appearance State
effectiveness of magazine advertising targeted towards and Trait Anxiety Scale (PASTAS; state subscale) was used to
women.” measure weight anxiety. This measure consists of eight items
which list parts or aspects of the body related to weight (e.g.,
Consumer Response “my thighs”) embedded within a list of eight non-weight-
related parts or aspects of the body (e.g., “my chin”).
Participants rated each of the 15 advertisements using a Participants were asked to indicate how anxious, tense or
“Consumer Response Questionnaire” adapted from Mills nervous they feel about their body “right now” using a 5-point
et al. (2002). Participants indicated the extent to which rating scale (0=not at all; 4=exceptionally so). This yielded a
they agreed with four statements on a 5-point scale (1= weight-related anxiety total and a non-weight-related anxiety
strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree). The following items total. Possible scores for both weight and non-weight anxiety
appeared in the questionnaire: (a) If I saw this advertise- ranged from 0 to 32, with higher scores on these scales
ment in a magazine it would catch my eye, (b) this image is indicating higher levels of appearance anxiety. Internal
attractive, (c) this image is interesting, and (d) overall, this consistency was high for both weight (α=.90) and non-
advertisement is effective. The purpose of this measure was weight scales (α=.83).
to lend credence to the cover story and to encourage
participants to attend closely to the stimulus material. Negative Mood and Body Dissatisfaction
Hence scores on this measure were not tabulated or
analyzed. Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) were administered both
immediately before and after the experimental manipula-
Recall tions to examine change in negative mood and body
dissatisfaction. Following Heinberg and Thompson
Participants were asked to recall the products and associ- (1995), negative mood was assessed using five items
ated brand names featured in the advertisements they measuring levels of anxiety, depression, happiness, anger
viewed. One point was awarded for each brand name and and confidence. Body dissatisfaction was assessed by
product type correctly recalled to yield a score out of 30. measuring levels of weight dissatisfaction and appearance
This information was collected to lend credence to the dissatisfaction. Participants completed each item by mark-
cover story. ing a 100 mm horizontal line with a vertical line between
Sex Roles (2008) 58:649–657 653

the polar anchors “none” and “very much.” Measuring the variables, as it was expected that the experimental manipu-
distance between “none” and the mark made by the lation would not influence trait self-objectification scores.
participant to the nearest millimeter yielded a score out of Finally, the recall test was administered and measures of
100 for each of the seven adjectives. VAS are a sensitive height and weight were taken. Debriefing information was
measure of small changes in mood and body dissatisfaction provided to participants through the university’s internet
because initial responses cannot be easily recalled in message board facility upon completion of data collection.
subsequent administrations (Heinberg and Thompson
1995). Positive mood items were reverse-coded and the
five individual mood scores were averaged to create an Results
overall score for state negative mood. The two scores for
weight and appearance dissatisfaction were averaged to Characteristics of the Sample
create an overall score for state body dissatisfaction.
Internal reliabilities were acceptable for both negative Participants ranged in age from 18 to 35 years, with a mean
mood (Cronbach’s alpha=.79) and body dissatisfaction age of 20.48 years (SD=4.33). Mean Body Mass Index
(Cronbach’s alpha=.80). Although body dissatisfaction (BMI) was 21.81 (SD=3.86). This score is within the
was positively correlated with appearance anxiety (r=.74, “normal weight” range defined by Garrow and Webster
p<.05), these variables were treated separately because we (1985). Mean trait self-objectification was .32 (SD=14.47),
had pre-measures on one variable (body dissatisfaction) but which is similar to that of an American college-age sample
not on the other (appearance anxiety). (M=.82; Fredrickson et al. 1998). Participants in the current
study read an average of 3.1 (SD=1.68) fashion and beauty
Trait Self-objectification magazines in the month prior to testing and the mean
reported time spent reading fashion and beauty magazines
The Self-Objectification Questionnaire developed and was 115 min (SD=124.8).
validated by Noll and Fredrickson (1998) was used to A series of one-way ANOVAs was conducted to ensure that
assess trait self-objectification. Participants were asked to there were no initial differences across the three experimental
rank a set of ten attributes in order of importance to conditions. There were no significant group difference in age,
physical self-concept, from most important (rank=1) to least F(2, 87)=.08, p>.05, BMI, F(2, 87)=.41, p>.05, or trait
important (rank=10). The list included five competence-based self-objectification, F(2, 87)=1.55, p>.05. There were also
attributes (physical coordination, health, strength, energy level, no significant differences between groups in the number of
and physical fitness level) and five appearance-based attributes fashion and beauty magazines read in the month prior to
(weight, sex appeal, physical attractiveness, firm/sculpted testing, F(2, 87)=.19, p>.05, or in the time spent reading
muscles, and measurements e.g., chest, waist, hips). The sum fashion and beauty magazines, F(2, 87)=.10, p>.05.
of the ranks for the competence-based items was subtracted
from the sum of the ranks for the appearance-based items. This Statistical Considerations
yielded a score within the range of −25 to +25. A higher score
reflected reliance on an appearance-focused physical self- A set of preliminary analyses tested whether trait self-
concept, which was interpreted as an indication of greater trait objectification interacted with image type. In no case was
self-objectification. there a significant moderating effect of trait self-objectification
(all F’s <1). Thus, following Calogero (2004), trait self-
Procedure objectification was instead added as a covariate in all analyses
to remove the effects of underlying individual differences.
Participants were recruited to participate in a study ostensi- In order to test the two major hypotheses, two
bly investigating the effectiveness of advertising targeted orthogonal planned contrasts were employed in an analysis
towards women. Participants were randomly allocated to one of covariance (ANCOVA) for each outcome variable. The
of the three experimental conditions (subject to equal first contrast in the ANCOVA compared the two thin ideal
numbers in each condition) and completed the initial conditions with the product control condition to examine
questionnaire measures of consumer habits, negative mood, whether viewing thin-idealized images would produce
and body dissatisfaction. Participants then viewed the 15 greater effects on the dependent variables than viewing
advertisements in the prescribed order and completed the product control images, as predicted in Hypothesis 1. The
Consumer Response Questionnaire. Following this task, second contrast compared the two thin ideal conditions with
participants again rated mood and body dissatisfaction, in each other to test Hypothesis 2, which predicted that the
addition to state self-objectification and appearance anxiety. images featuring women with men would produce greater
Trait self-objectification was measured after the dependent effects than those featuring women only.
654 Sex Roles (2008) 58:649–657

Table 1 Adjusted means (Standard Error in Parentheses) by image 4.38, p<.05, η 2p ¼ :05, supporting Hypothesis 1. In contrast,
type.
Hypothesis 2 was not supported in that no significant
Image type difference was observed in weight-related appearance anxiety
between the two thin-idealized conditions, F(1, 86)=2.03,
Thin-idealized Thin-idealized Product control
p>.05. Non-weight-related appearance anxiety did not differ
female female with male
n=30 n=30 n=30
significantly between the thin-idealized conditions (adj M=
3.97) and the product control condition (adj M=3.66), F(1,
State self-objectificationa 86)=.10, p>.05, or between the two thin-idealized condi-
Adj M 1.63 1.40 .87 tions, F(1, 86)=.85, p>.05.
(SE) (.25) (.24) (.25)
Weight-related appearance anxietya
Adj M 15.22 12.80 10.91 Experimental Effects on Negative Mood and Body
(SE) (1.21) (1.20) (1.21) Dissatisfaction
Non-weight-related appearance anxiety
Adj M 4.53 3.42 3.65 For negative mood and body dissatisfaction, pre- and post-
(SE) (.85) (.84) (.85)
manipulation scores were available. Therefore, in addition
Negative mooda
Adj M 26.21 26.83 22.45
to trait self-objectification, pre-manipulation negative mood
(SE) (1.19) (1.18) (1.19) and body dissatisfaction were entered as covariates in these
Body dissatisfactiona analyses. Preliminary testing showed that the assumptions
Adj M 46.03 44.94 35.97 of linearity and homogeneity of regression slopes were not
(SE) (2.21) (2.17) (2.19) violated for these covariates.
The effect of thin-idealized images on negative mood was
Scale end-points: State self-objectification, 0–10; Weight-related
appearance anxiety, 0–32; Non-weight-related appearance anxiety, 0– significant, F(1, 85)=7.76, p<.05, η 2p ¼ :08. After adjust-
32; Negative mood, 0–100; Body dissatisfaction, 0–100 ing for pre-manipulation scores, participants who viewed
a
Denotes a significant effect (p<.05) of image type. thin-idealized images experienced higher mean levels of
negative mood (adj M=26.5) than participants who viewed
product control images (adj M=22.4; see Table 1), in
support of Hypothesis 1. Contrary to Hypothesis 2, the
Experimental Effects on State Self-Objectification
difference between the two thin-ideal conditions on
negative mood was not significant, F(1, 85)=.14, p>.05.
Table 1 displays the adjusted mean scores obtained on each
A similar pattern emerged for body dissatisfaction.
of the dependent variables by experimental condition. The
The effect of thin-idealized images on body dissatisfac-
first contrast used in testing Hypothesis 1 revealed a
tion was significant, F(1, 85)=12.48, p<.05, η 2p ¼ :13. As
significant effect of thin-idealized images on state self-
shown in Table 1, mean level of body dissatisfaction was
objectification, F(1, 86)=4.47, p<.05, η 2p ¼ :05. State self-
higher in the thin-idealized conditions after the manipu-
objectification was clearly higher in the thin-idealized
lation (adj M=45.5) than in the product control condition
conditions (adj M=1.51) than in the product control
(adj M=36.0). There was no significant difference in
condition (adj M=.88). However, the second contrast used
body dissatisfaction across the two thin-ideal conditions,
in testing Hypothesis 2 showed that there was no significant
F(1, 85)=.12, p>.05.
difference in state self-objectification between the thin-
idealized female and thin-idealized female with male
conditions, F(1, 86)=.43, p>.05. State Self-Objectification as a Mediator
As the state self-objectification scores were somewhat
positively skewed (skew=.854), logarithmic transformation A final analysis was conducted to determine whether state
was carried out, as recommended by Tabachnick and Fidell self-objectification mediated the effect of image type on
(1996). Because analysis of the log transformed scores appearance anxiety, negative mood, and body dissatisfac-
produced exactly the same results, the untransformed data tion. However, the data did not satisfy Baron and Kenny’s
have been retained for parsimony and ease of interpretation. (1986) third precondition that the mediator must affect the
dependent variables. State self-objectification was not
Experimental Effects on Appearance Anxiety significantly related to any of weight-related appearance
anxiety (r=.10, p>.05), post-manipulation negative mood
Table 1 shows that weight-related appearance anxiety was (r=.16, p>.05), or post-manipulation body dissatisfaction
significantly higher in the thin-idealized conditions (adj M= (r=.15, p>.05). As this precondition was not met, media-
14.0) than in the product condition (adj M=10.9), F(1, 86)= tion could not be tested.
Sex Roles (2008) 58:649–657 655

Discussion Images from the media are a constant presence in the lives of
Western women, and the use of thin-idealized women in
The present study investigated the effects of exposure to advertising is particularly ubiquitous (Malkin et al. 1999).
images depicting thin female models on women’s state self- Hence, it is likely that women experience an elevation in
objectification, appearance anxiety, mood, and body dissat- state self-objectification several times a day. It is not hard to
isfaction. Confirming Hypothesis 1, women who viewed imagine women scrutinizing aspects of their physical
thin-idealized magazine advertisements demonstrated appearance from a third-person perspective when casually
higher levels of state self-objectification, weight-related flicking through fashion magazines in a doctor’s surgery,
appearance anxiety, negative mood, and body dissatisfac- driving past billboards on the way to work, or browsing
tion than women who viewed product control images. through CDs in a music store. When attentional resources
Exposure to thin-idealized images was not associated with are devoted to the task of thinking about the appearance of
anxiety related to parts or aspects of the body where weight the self, other areas of cognitive and behavioral functioning
was not a factor. have been found to suffer (Fredrickson et al. 1998; Hebl
The present finding contributes to existing research in et al. 2004; Quinn et al. 2006). Given that links have been
two separate ways. First, it supplements the media effects found between increases in state self-objectification and
literature. The results provide additional evidence to clinical symptoms (Fredrickson et al. 1998; Noll and
suggest that exposure to thin-idealized magazine advertise- Fredrickson 1998; Harrison and Fredrickson 2003), it is
ments has a “small but consistent” effect on women’s possible that prolonged exposure could place women at risk
well-being (Groesz et al. 2002), by producing general of developing more serious disturbances of mood and body
declines in mood and body satisfaction and an increase in satisfaction such as depression or eating disorders. These
weight anxiety. More importantly, the present study is the possibilities should be considered by future researchers.
first to demonstrate that magazine advertisements featuring Interestingly, in contrast to Hypothesis 2, the results
a thin, attractive female model produce greater state self- demonstrate that magazine advertisements featuring attrac-
objectification than control advertisements. As predicted by tive men looking at and touching thin women and
Fredrickson and Roberts (1997), the process of viewing this advertisements featuring thin women without men are
type of advertisement can encourage women to think about similar in their effects on women’s self-objectification,
their physical appearance as if looking on as a critical mood, body dissatisfaction, and appearance anxiety. It
observer. The results of the present study indicate that the would seem that exposure to any type of image that depicts
body and its appearance become more salient points of a thin-idealized woman can provide a vicarious experience
reference for women in describing the self after this form of of objectification that can trigger the process of self-
media exposure. Thus, self-objectification is introduced as a objectification as per the assertion of Fredrickson and
variable that should be examined further in future research Roberts (1997). Women can engage in this process when
on media effects. viewing images that explicitly show objectification taking
Second, the current research makes a significant contri- place or when viewing images that merely serve to “align
bution to the field of objectification theory. The findings viewers with an implicit sexualizing gaze” (Fredrickson and
present further evidence that relatively subtle cues can Roberts 1997). The presence of a male in this type of media
stimulate self-objectification in young women. One impor- image does not seem to affect women’s responses.
tant feature of the present research is that participants were The current research has a number of methodological
not required to focus their attention on their physical advantages over similar media studies. For example, several
appearance by trying on a swimsuit in front of a mirror, strategies were employed to control demand effects. The
the method most used by self-objectification researchers study was presented under the guise of an investigation into
(Fredrickson et al. 1998; Hebl et al. 2004; Quinn et al. the effectiveness of advertising targeted towards women. To
2006). Our results show that women do not need to be lend credibility to this claim, participants completed a
asked to appraise their looks in order to think about their measure of media consumption, rated the advertisements
physical appearance as if looking on as a critical observer. for effectiveness, and were given a recall test. As a final
Just as this process can be activated through objectifying precaution, a small number of images featuring products
word primes (Roberts and Gettman 2004) or the anticipa- without people were included in the thin-idealized image
tion of a male gaze (Calogero 2004), it would seem that sets. A further strength of the present study is that the
typical magazine images featuring thin female models can images used were carefully matched within and across
encourage women to consider the appearance of the body conditions. The process of matching the images across four
by adopting a third-person perspective. criteria helped to ensure that the sets were only categori-
This finding that thin-idealized media images can gener- cally different in design elements pertinent to the experi-
ate self-objectification may have significant implications. mental manipulation. However, future studies might
656 Sex Roles (2008) 58:649–657

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One limitation is that the results are specific to a sample Groesz, L. M., Levine, M. P., & Murnen, S. K. (2002). The effect of
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