Roles of Sexual Objectification Experiences and Internalization of Standards of Beauty in Eating Disorder Symptomatology: A Test and Extension of Objectification Theory.

2005/07/01 by Bonnie Moradi, Danielle Dirks, Alicia V. Matteson · 342 citations
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aesthetics #Beauty #Clinical psychology #Developmental psychology #Disordered eating #Eating Disorders and Behaviors #Eating disorders #Epistemology #Extension (predicate logic) #Fashion and Cultural Textiles #Gender Roles and Identity Studies #Human physical appearance #Internalization #Objectification #Psychology #Social psychology #Test (biology)

paper · doi:10.1037/0022-0167.52.3.420

published in Journal of Counseling Psychology 52(3), 420-428 (American Psychological Association)

openalex publication_date 2005/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

This study extends the literature on eating disorder symptomatology by testing, based on extant literature on objectification theory (B. L. Fredrickson & T. Roberts, 1997) and the role of sociocultural standards of beauty (e.g.. L. J. Heinberg. J. K. Thompson, & S. Stormer, 1995), a model that examines (a) links of reported sexual objectification experiences to eating disorder-related variables and (b) the mediating roles of body surveillance, body shame, and internalization of sociocultural standards of beauty. Consistent with hypotheses, with a sample of 221 young women, support was found for a model in which (a) internalization of sociocultural standards of beauty mediated the links of sexual objectification experiences to body surveillance, body shame, and eating disorder symptoms, (b) body surveillance was an additional mediator of the link of reported sexual objectification experiences to body shame, and (c) body shame mediated the links of internalization and body surveillance to disordered eating.

Citations

• Everyday Sexism: Evidence for Its Incidence, Nature, and Psychological Impact From Three Daily Diary Studies
• The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations.

Cited by

• A test and extension of objectification theory as it predicts disordered eating: Does women's age matter?
• Unpacking body image concerns and disordered eating for transgender women: The roles of sexual objectification and minority stress.
• Building a pantheoretical model of dehumanization with transgender men: Integrating objectification and minority stress theories.
• A Mile in Her Heels: Do Men and Women Agree on How Often Women Are Sexually Objectified?
• Objectification Theory: Areas of Promise and Refinement
• “That's Just, Par for the Course”: Social Class, Objectification, and Body Image among White Working-Class Women in the United Kingdom
• Sexual Objectification and Substance Abuse in Young Adult Women
• Sexual Objectification, Internalization, and College Women’s Depression: The Role of Shame
• Tests of Objectification Theory in Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Community Samples: Mixed Evidence for Proposed Pathways
• Examining Objectification Theory
• The Impact of Western Beauty Ideals on the Lives of Women: A Sociocultural Perspective
• Body Image and Sexual Dissatisfaction: Differences Among Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Lesbian Women
• Self- and Partner-objectification in Romantic Relationships: Associations with Media Consumption and Relationship Satisfaction. [europepmc]
• Western Cultural Identification Explains Variations in the Objectification Model for Eating Pathology Across Australian Caucasians and Asian Women. [europepmc]
• Mechanisms of action during a dissonance-based intervention through 14-month follow-up: The roles of body shame and body surveillance. [europepmc]
• What Is Bad From the Gander Is Bad From the Goose: Development and Validation of the Women's Objectification of Women Scale. [europepmc]
• Experimental Studies on State Self-Objectification: A Review and an Integrative Process Model. [europepmc]
• Body Image and Sexual Dissatisfaction: Differences Among Heterosexual, Bisexual, and Lesbian Women. [europepmc]
• Compliance with COVID-19 safety measures: A test of an objectification theory model. [europepmc]
• Mapping the terrain of Journal of Counseling Psychology: A citation network analysis. [europepmc]
• Intersectional discrimination and its impact on Asian American women's mental health: A mixed-methods scoping review. [europepmc]
• Body Image and High-Risk Weight and Shape Control Behaviors Among Transgender and Nonbinary Young Adults: The Role of Sexual Assault. [europepmc]
• Brains over beauty: A preregistered test of the effects of objectification on women's cognitive performance. [europepmc]
• The primacy of ocular perception: a narrative review on the role of gender identity in eating disorders. [europepmc]
• An Inhospitable World: Exploring a Model of Objectification Theory With Trans Women. [europepmc]
• Adonis on the Apps: Online Objectification, Self-Esteem, and Sexual Minority Men. [europepmc]
• The influence of online sexual objectification experience on female college students' disordered eating: the mediator of body surveillance and the moderator of physical exercise. [europepmc]
• The diverging role of embodiment in altered eating behaviors: a comparison between patients with anorexia nervosa and gender dysphoria. [europepmc]
• Feeling Like a Woman: Interoception and the Objectified Body. [europepmc]

Related

• A test and extension of objectification theory as it predicts disordered eating: Does women's age matter?
• Unpacking body image concerns and disordered eating for transgender women: The roles of sexual objectification and minority stress.
• Self‐objectification and sexual dysfunction among women: Testing and extending objectification theory
• A meta‐analysis of the relationships between body checking, body image avoidance, body image dissatisfaction, mood, and disordered eating
• Understanding Sexual Objectification: A Comprehensive Approach Toward Media Exposure and Girls' Internalization of Beauty Ideals, Self-Objectification, and Body Surveillance