Media exposure and girls’ internalization of beauty ideals, self-objectification and body surveillance

Popular mass media have been criticized for sexually objectifying the female body. Both traditional and new media have been found to regularly focus on women’s appearances in a sexualized way while ignoring women’s personalities (e.g., Ward, 1995). Exposure to sexually objectifying media is expected to trigger a chain of psychological events among media users that may lead to various mental and physical health risks (Aubrey, 2006). Self-objectification has been shown to be one of the most fundamental events in this chain (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Scholars have argued that self-objectification induced by exposure to sexually objectifying media is a multidimensional process including the internalization of beauty ideals, endorsement of an objectified view of one’s own body and body surveillance (Moradi, 2010). The present study investigated how exposure to sexually objectifying music television, primetime television programs, fashion magazines and social networking sites is related to the internalization of beauty ideals, self-objectification and body surveillance among adolescent girls. In this study, we sought to extend research on the effects of sexually objectifying media in three ways. First, objectification scholars (e.g., Moradi, 2010) recently recommended addressing self-objectification as a multidimensional process rather than as a single concept. Media studies have mainly focused on relationships between media consumption, on the one hand, and either body surveillance, self-objectification or internalization, on the other hand (e.g., Grabe & Hyde, 2009). The major aim of this study is to apply the recent integrated theoretical approach toward self-objectification in an empirical media study. Second, the impact of different types of sexually objectifying media content is examined. Thus far, studies have mainly addressed exposure to sexually objectifying media by examining the consumption of a single type of content (e.g., Grabe & Hyde, 2009) or the total amount of exposure to sexually objectifying media (e.g., Aubrey 2006). Third, most studies of the relationship between media consumption and self-objectification have been conducted among college students (e.g., Aubrey, 2006). Tiggemann (2010) has recently noted this limitation and warned, “One group that warrants particular and urgent attention is young girls” (p.153). Therefore, following the recommendation of Tiggemann (2010), the present study focuses on girls between the ages of 12 and 18 years. In order to examine the relationships between sexually objectifying media consumption and the multidimensional process of self-objectification a quantitative survey (n= 558; Mean age= 15.6, SD=1.49) was organized in schools representing different educational levels from different parts of Flanders (Belgium). Structural equation modeling (AMOS) was used to test the expected relationships. Structural equation models for each type of sexually objectifying media indicated first that the cognitive processes of self-objectification and internalization as well as the behavioral process of body surveillance are triggered by exposure to sexually objectifying media. Furthermore, our multidimensional approach towards self-objectification enabled us to identify direct relationships between sexually objectifying media and the internalization of beauty ideals and indirect relationships between sexually objectifying media and self-objectification and body surveillance through the internalization of beauty ideals. The latter indirect effects highlight the importance of beauty ideals in media content and how the internalization of these messages guides the perception of one’s body, leading to a more objectified view and more frequent monitoring of appearance. Although all sexually objectifying media operated through the internalization of beauty ideals, differences in direct and indirect relationships were found for self-objectification and body surveillance. Whereas exposure to sexually objectifying music television, fashion magazines and social network sites directly affected self-objectification, this was not true for exposure to sexually objectifying primetime television. In addition, in all but one model, the cognitive dimensions within the process of self-objectification-internalization and self-objectification- precede its behavioral dimension (body surveillance). The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings with regard to the relationship between sexually objectifying media consumption and the multifaceted process of self-objectification (1), acknowledging differences between different media contents (2) and describing adolescent girls at risk for sexual objectification (3).