| Researchers (Kowalski, 2000; Thompson, Fabian, Moulton, Dunn, & Altabe, 1991) interested in the effects of teasing have focused their attention primarily on weight- or size-related teasing of Euro-Americans. There are aspects of appearance other than weight that could be the content of a tease and these teases could impact other aspects of the self in various ways with different ethnicities.; Self-objectification theory provides insights into how getting teased about appearance and dress could impact adolescent's feelings about the self. Self-objectification theory posits when women and girls self-objectify, they adopt an outsider's perspective of their own appearance (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). As a result, individual's who self-objectify may experience and react to an appearance-based tease differently than individuals' who do not self-objectify. The impact of a tease could also be influenced by the response to a tease.; Little is known about how adolescents respond to appearance-based teasing and whether their responses are effective. Therefore, the central research question was whether adolescents' experiences of and responses to teasing were related to the content of a tease, their level of self-objectification, and their ethnicity.; Participants were Euro-American (n = 27), African-American (n = 22), multiracial (n = 5), Asian ( n = 4), and Hispanic (n = 3) female adolescents. They ranged in age from 12 to 17. Data on their experiences with teasing were collected through the use of autobiographical narratives. Each participant was asked to write about a recent occasion when she was teased about an aspect of her appearance. Content analysis was used to examine responses.; Participants were teased about multiple aspects of their appearance including clothing items, facial characteristics, weight, height, hair, and other body characteristics. All ethnic groups voiced negative opinions about being teased. However, non Euro-American participants shared that experiences and attitudes concerning teasing were also pro-social. Ignoring a tease was reported as the most frequent response to a tease, especially to weight-related teases. High self-objectifiers frequently reported being teased about their weight and their hair. High self-objectifiers frequently reported purchasing new items in an attempt to change their appearance in response to a tease. |
