Skip to main content
Intended for healthcare professionals
Restricted access
Review article
First published online December 1, 2011

Bringing Back the Body: A Retrospective on the Development of Objectification Theory

First page of PDF

Get full access to this article

View all access and purchase options for this article.

References

American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2007). Report of the APA task force on the sexualization of girls. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx
American Psychological Association. (2010, March 24). American psychological association commends house bill aimed at promoting more positive images of girls. Washington, DC:. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2010/03/healthy-media-youth.aspx
Andrist L. C. (2008). The implications of objectification theory for women’s health: Menstrual suppression and Cesarean delivery on maternal request. Health Care for Women International, 29, 551–561. doi: 10.1080/07399330801949616
Augustus-Horvath C. L., Tylka T. L. (2009). A test and extension of objectification theory as it predicts disordered eating: Does women’s age matter?. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56, 253–265. doi: 10.1037/a0014637
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, 697–718. doi:10.1177/001100000831632
Calogero R. M. (2004). A test of objectification theory: The effect of the male gaze on appearance concerns in college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28, 16–21. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2004.00118.x
Calogero R. M., Pina A., Park L. E., Rahemtulla Z. (2010). Objectification theory predicts college women’s attitudes toward cosmetic surgery. Sex Roles, 63, 32–41. doi: 10.1007/ s11199-010-9759-5
Carr E. R., Szymanski D. M. (2011). Sexual objectification and substance abuse in young adult women. The Counseling Psychologist, 39, 39–66. doi: 10.1177/0011000010378449
Fredrickson B. L. (2009). Positivity. New York, NY: Crown.
Fredrickson B. L., Harrison K. (2005). Throwing like a girl: The effects of self-objectification on adolescent girls’ motor performance. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 29, 79–101. doi: 10.1177/0193723504269878
Fredrickson B. L., Roberts T. A. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experience and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x
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. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.269
Gapinski K. D., Brownell K. D., LaFrance M. (2003). Body objectification and “fat talk”: Effects on emotion, motivation, and cognitive performance. Sex Roles, 48, 377–388. doi: 10.1023/A:1023516209973
Gay R. K., Castano E. (2010). My body or my mind: The impact of state and trait objectification on women’s cognitive resources. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 695–703.
Gervais S. J., Vescio T. K., Allen J. (2011). What you see is what you get: The consequences of the objectifying gaze for women and men. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35, 5–17. doi: 10.1177/0361684310386121
Goldenberg J. L., Roberts T. A. (2011). The birthmark: An existential account of the objectification of women. In Calogero R. M., Tantleff-Dunn S., Thompson J. K. (Eds.), Self-objectification in women: Causes, consequences, and counteractions (pp. 77–99). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Goldenberg J. L., Cooper D. P., Heflick N. A., Routledge C., Arndt J. (2011). Is objectification always harmful? Reactions to objectifying images and feedback as a function of self-objectification and mortality salience. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 443–448. doi: 10.1016/j.jesp.2010.11.013
Harrell Z. A, Fredrickson B. L., Pomerleau C. S., Nolen-Hoeksema S. (2006). The role of trait self-objectification in smoking among college women. Sex Roles, 54, 735–743. doi: 10.1007/s11199-006-9041-z
Harrison K., Fredrickson B. L. (2003). Women’s sports media, self-objectification, and mental health in Black and White adolescent females. Journal of Communication, 53, 216–232. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2003.tb02587.x
Hill M. S., Fischer A. R. (2008). Examining objectification theory: Lesbian and heterosexual women’s experiences with sexual–and self-objectification. The Counseling Psychologist, 36, 745–776. doi: 10.1177/0011000007301669
Hines S. H., Sampselle C. M., Ronis D. L., Yeo S., Fredrickson B. L., Boyd C. J. (2007). Women’s self-care agency to manage urinary incontinence: The impact of nursing agency and body experience. Advances in Nursing Science, 30, 175–188.
Johnston-Robledo I., Wares S., Fricker J., Pasek L. (2007). Indecent exposure: Self-objectification and young women’s attitudes toward breastfeeding. Sex Roles, 56, 429–437. doi: 10.1007/s11199-007-9194-4
Kozak M., Frankenhauser H., Roberts T. A. (2009). Objects of desire: Objectification as a function of male sexual orientation. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 10, 225–230. doi: 10.1037/a0016257
Kozee H. B., Tylka T. L. (2006). A test of objectification theory with lesbian women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 348–357. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00310.x
Mercurio A. E., Landry L. J. (2008). Self-objectification and well-being: The impact of self-objectification on women’s overall sense of self-worth and life satisfaction. Sex Roles, 58, 458–466. doi:10.1007/s11199-007-9357-3
Michals D. (2003). Stealth feminists: The thirtysomething revolution. In Morgan R. (Ed.), Sisterhood is forever: The women’s anthology for a new millennium (pp. 138–144). New York, NY: Washington Square Press.
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. doi: 10.1006/jrpe.2001.2343
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. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2009.01516.x
Moradi B., Huang Y. (2008). Objectification theory and psychology of women: A decade of advances and future directions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 377–398. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2008.00452.x
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. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.1998.tb00181.x
Parent M. C., Moradi B. (2011). His biceps become him: A test of objectification theory’s application to drive for muscularity and propensity for steroid use in college men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58, 246–256. doi:10.1037/a0021398
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. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00262.x
Roberts T. A. (2004). Female trouble: The menstrual self-evaluation scale and women’s self-objectification. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 28, 22–26. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6402.2004.00119.x
Roberts T. A., Gettman J. Y. (2004). Mere exposure: Gender differences in the negative effects of priming a state of self-objectification. Sex Roles, 51, 17–27. doi: 10.1023/B:SERS.0000032306.20462.22
Roberts T. A., Goldenberg J. L. (2007). Wrestling with nature: An existential perspective on the body and gender in self-conscious emotions. In Tracy J. L., Robins R. W., Tangney J. P. (Eds.), The self-conscious emotions: Theory and research (pp. 389–406). New York, NY: Guilford.
Saguy T., Quinn D. M., Dovidio J. F., Pratto F. (2010). Interacting like a body: Objectification can lead women to narrow their presence in social interactions. Psychological Science, 2, 178–182. doi: 10.1177/0956797609357751
Sanchez D., Broccoli T. (2008). The romance of self-objectification: Does priming romantic relationships induce states of self-objectification among women?. Sex Roles, 59, 545–554. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9451-1
Slater A., Tiggemann M. (2010). Body image and disordered eating in adolescent girls and boys: A test of objectification theory. Sex Roles, 63, 42–49. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9794-2
Steer A., Tiggemann M. (2008). The role of self-objectification in women’s sexual functioning. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27, 205–225. doi: 10.1521/ jscp.2008.27.3.20
Tolaymat L. D., Moradi B. (2011). U.S. Muslim women and body image: Links among objectification theory constructs and the hijab. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58, 383–392. doi: 10.1037/a0023461
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. doi: 10.1037/a0018937

Cite article

Cite article

Cite article

OR

Download to reference manager

If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice

Share options

Share

Share this article

Share with email
EMAIL ARTICLE LINK
Share on social media

Share access to this article

Sharing links are not relevant where the article is open access and not available if you do not have a subscription.

For more information view the Sage Journals article sharing page.

Information, rights and permissions

Information

Published In

Article first published online: December 1, 2011
Issue published: December 2011

Rights and permissions

© Society for the Psychology of Women 2011.
Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Barbara L. Fredrickson
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Lee Meyerhoff Hendler
Lyn P. Meyerhoff Foundation, Baltimore, MD, USA
Stephanie Nilsen
Private Practice, Durham, NC, USA
Jean Fox O’Barr
Program in Women's Studies, Duke University, NC, USA
Tomi-Ann Roberts
Department of Psychology, Colorado College, CO, USA

Notes

Barbara Fredrickson, Department of Psychology, Davie Hall, CB 3270, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA Email: [email protected]

Metrics and citations

Metrics

Journals metrics

This article was published in Psychology of Women Quarterly.

VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICS

Article usage*

Total views and downloads: 3805

*Article usage tracking started in December 2016


Altmetric

See the impact this article is making through the number of times it’s been read, and the Altmetric Score.
Learn more about the Altmetric Scores



Articles citing this one

Receive email alerts when this article is cited

Web of Science: 28 view articles Opens in new tab

Crossref: 0

  1. Objectification and body esteem: age group patterns in women’s psychol...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  2. Kendini Nesneleştirme İnanç ve Davranışları Ölçeğinin Genç Kadınlar Üz...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  3. Percepções sobre imagem corporal na formação superior: com a palavra, ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  4. A Longitudinal and Comparative Content Analysis of Instagram Fitness P...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  5. How coming out and community involvement affects body image: An in-dep...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  6. Sexual Objectification and Gender Display in Arabic Music Videos
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  7. Body image disturbance and sexual orientation: An updated systematic r...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  8. Hypersexualization and Sexualization in Advertisements for Halloween C...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  9. Cross-Impact of Self-Assessments of Attractiveness, Its Contribution t...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  10. The ghost of the machine: The relevance of material systems for psycho...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  11. Sexualizing Media Use and Self-Objectification: A Meta-Analysis
    Go to citation Crossref Google ScholarPub Med
  12. The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Self-Objectificatio...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  13. Community participation and mental health prior to treatment
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  14. From Attire to Assault: Clothing, Objectification, and De-humanization...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  15. What’s the Best Exposure? Examining Media Representations of Female At...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  16. Does Women's Body Appreciation Differ by Sexual Orientation? A Brief R...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  17. Sit Big to Eat Big...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  18. Objectification Theory: Of relevance for eating disorder researchers a...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  19. Breastfeeding Mothers’ Experiences: The Ghost in the Machine
    Go to citation Crossref Google ScholarPub Med
  20. The Moderated Relationship of Appearance Valence on Appearance Self Co...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  21. Book Review: Self-Objectification in Women: Causes, Consequences, and ...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar
  22. Feminist Psychology and the “Body Problem”...
    Go to citation Crossref Google Scholar

Figures and tables

Figures & Media

Tables

View Options

Get access

Access options

If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:

SPW members can access this journal content using society membership credentials.

SPW members can access this journal content using society membership credentials.


Alternatively, view purchase options below:

Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.

Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.

View options

PDF/ePub

View PDF/ePub

Full Text

View Full Text