A Test And Extension Of Objectification Theory Among Homosexual Community Samples

In general,objectification occurs when a person is dehumanized and treated as a commodity.With the rise of feminism,sexual objectification,as a form of gender oppression,has attracted wide attention of scholars.In order to understand how sociocultural and psychological risk factors work together to influence women’s mental health,Fredrickson and Roberts developed objectification theory in 1997.The theory holds that sexual objectification,which is experienced continuously,is internalized by the individual over time,leading to self-objectification.Self-objectification is the observer’s internalization of self-perception,and its main characteristic is the monitoring of body appearance(i.e.,body surveillance).Due to the social and cultural concerns about women’s appearance,sexual objectification was initially put forward as a specific experience of women.However,some scholars later extended the objectification theory to different groups and more psychological consequences by using various methods.Based on the framework of objectification theory,this study explored the influence of sexual minority discrimination experience,interpersonal sexual objectification experience and self-objectification index(body surveillance and body shame)on the mental health and behavioral consequences of homosexual groups,including risky sexual behavior,the expected emotion and response to sexual objectification.In the first study,the objectification theory was tested in the homosexual samples,and the discrimination experience of sexual minorities was included as a specific source of stress for the homosexual group.The study found that lesbians reported more sexual objectification experiences and sexual minority discrimination than gay men,and gay men scored higher than lesbians on internalization of sociocultural standards,body surveillance(self-objectification),and body shame.There was no significant difference in mental health scores between gay men and lesbians.The study also found that in addition to the internalization of sociocultural aesthetic standards,the experience of sexual objectification of gay men and lesbians was positively correlated with body surveillance(self-objectification),body shame,experiences of sexual minority discrimination and mental health.Through the path analysis among gay men and lesbians,the results showed that the objectification theory model is also applicable to homosexual groups in China.Sexual objectification experience can lead to self-objectification among homosexual groups,and self-objectification affects individual mental health through body shame.In gay men,contrary to the hypothesis,the internalization of social cultural standards did not play a mediating role between sexual objectification experiences and self-objectification,body shame,and mental health,which was also found in lesbians.In addition,body shame was a mediator between sexual minority discrimination and mental health among gay men,but not among lesbians.Some scholars have found that self-objectification aggravated the degree of shame on individual’s body,and body shame is related to more dissatisfied sexual experience,decreased sexual satisfaction,and decreased sexual function.Therefore,from the perspective of objectification theory,study 2 explored the relationship between sexual objectification experience,benevolent sexist discrimination and sexual risky behavior of homosexual samples.The results showed that gay men reported more risky sexual behavior than lesbians and lesbians reported more benign sexism than gay men.The correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between benevolent sexism and internalization of social cultural aesthetic standards among gay men.And there was a significant positive correlation between individuals’ risky sexual behavior,sexual objectification experience,body surveillance(self-objectification)and sexual minority discrimination experience in gay men.Among lesbians,benevolent sexist attitudes were significantly positively correlated with sexual objectification experience,internalization of sociocultural aesthetic standards,and body surveillance(self-objectification).And individuals’ risky sexual behaviors were significantly positively correlated with sexual objectification experience,internalization of sociocultural aesthetic standards,and sexual minority discrimination experience in lesbians.Sexual objectification experiences did not predict benevolent sexism,but influenced risky sexual behavior through body surveillance(self-objectification).The benevolent sexist attitude will lead to the internalization of social cultural standards,which will lead to body surveillance(self-objectification),and then have an impact on the individual’s risky sexual behavior.However,in homosexual women,sexual objectification experience can not only influence individuals’ risky behaviors through body surveillance(self-objectification),but also cause individuals to internalize the social cultural standards by causing benevolent sexism,and then influence individuals’ risky sexual behaviors through body surveillance(self-objectification).The third study explored the individual’s emotion and response after experiencing sexual objectification experience.The results showed that,compared with the non-objectified scenario,the homosexual group was expected to produce more anger,disgust,shame,and rejection emotions when facing objectified situations.Unlike lesbians,gay men also expect to experience more inferiority and pride.Correlation analysis results showed that in gay men,the expected self-blame was associated with its expected anger,disgust,shame,inferiority and rejection.And expected passive reaction was associated with the expected disgust and pride.In lesbians,the expected self-blame response was significantly correlated with the expected anger,shame,inferiority,rejection and pride,while the expected passive response was not significantly correlated with the above emotions.The results also showed that in gay men,the manipulation of sexual objectification can elicit expected passive responses through expected disgust and pride.In homosexual women,the manipulation of sexual objectification caused expected self-blame through expected feelings of shame and rejection.In summary,the results of this study support the applicability of objectification theory in homosexual groups,and homosexual groups of different genders have shown different patterns of influence.The experience of sexual objectification and self-objectification indicators will affect their mental health and behavioral consequences.In addition,the specific discrimination and sexism in the homosexual group also play important roles.