Playing the Objectification Game: How Women's Self-Esteem Impacts the Existential Consequences of Objectification

Abstract

Living in a culture of objectification harms women’s well-being in a number of ways. Despite this well-studied phenomenon, no research has yet investigated whether objectification impacts women’s existential well-being, or meaning in life, which is a critical component of psychological and physical health. Using a terror management theoretical perspective, I propose that objectification is a worldview women are encouraged to participate in in order to achieve meaning. More specifically, I propose that objectification’s effect on meaning will be dependent on women’s perceived success at living up to the standards of objectification (i.e. her self-esteem about her appearance), or how much she values the objectification worldview (i.e. how much important she places on her appearance). Results support that body esteem and appearance contingency of self-worth both play a role in moderating various outcomes after women have contemplated an experience of being objectified. Additional results support that an unrelated contingency of self-worth related to religion and spirituality may also moderate the impact of objectification. The importance of these results in the landscape of objectification intervention research is discussed.