Article Summary of Sexualizing media use and self objectification - Karsay et al. - 2017

What is sexualization?

In terms of today´s mainstream media, sexualization refers to the type of presentation, for example by television, videogames and social networking sites, that is marked by an emphasis on sexual appearance, physical beauty, and sexual appeal to others. Sexualizing media is criticized for reinforcing gender stereotypes, increasing acceptance of rape myths and increasing body dissatisfaction. It is yet to be determined what the role is of sexualizing media use in the development of self-objectification.

What is objectification theory?

The objectification theory states that the experience and observation of sexual objectification acculturates men and women to internalize an objectified view of the self. With this view a third-person perspective of the body is adopted which is manifested by a chronic attention to one's own physical appearance, which is defined as self-objectification. 

What is self-objectification?

Self-objectification is the psychological mechanism that translates experiences of sexualization at the cultural level to psychological and behavioral health and well-being at the individual level. It is conceptualized as a learned trait, but it can also be elicited momentarily and can lead to a state of self-objectification. Self-objectification has cognitive components (e.g. valuing appearance over competence) and behavioral components (e.g. engaging in chronic body monitoring).

What is sexual objectification?

Sexual objectification is defined as the practice of viewing, using and/or valuing a person as an object whose worth is based primarily on his or her physical and sexual attractiveness. Sexually objectifying experiences are not always sexual in nature. They also include pressure from society to create, present, maintain and continuously improve an attractive appearance. Sexual objectification can thus occur in many different ways. It can range from depictions of an ideal body type, to evaluations of one´s own body, to sexual harassment.

What is sexualization according to the APA?

According to the APA, sexualization occurs whenever:

• a person's value is determined primarily or only from their sexual appeal or behavior, excluding other characteristics.
• a person is held to a standard that equates narrowly defined physical attractiveness with being sexy.
• a person is sexually objectified.
• sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person.

Any of the above mentioned serve as an indicator for sexualization.

What do correlational studies say about the relation between sexualizing media and self-objectification?

Survey data as a source for correlational studies has the advantage that participants are not forced exposed to sexualizing media, but the self-reported data can be biased and lacks validity. Most cross-sectional correlational studies have shown that the use of sexualizing media is positively related to self-objectification. There are however exceptions and there are differences between gender, ages and media types.

What do experimental studies say about the relation between sexualizing media and self-objectification?

The advantage of experimental research is that you can draw causal conclusions about the effects of sexualizing media on self-objectification, because of the isolated manipulation of the independent variable and the controlled research setting. Many experimental studies have found increased self-objectification after a relatively short exposure to sexualizing media content. Disadvantages of experimental studies are the ethical challenge of exposing participants to sexualizing media and the artificial environment for the media use.

How does the study by Karsay et. al. (2017) contribute to the literature about the effect of sexualizing media on self-objectification?

Karsay et. al. (2017) performed a meta-analysis of 54 studies and added potential moderators. Their research contributes to the literature for several reasons:

• It is the first meta-analysis that investigates if the use of sexualizing media increases self-objectification.
• They include different study designs (cross-sectional, panel studies and experimental studies) and test the differences between them.
• They include all studies that are available in English regardless of their geographical origin.
• They use a sophisticated methodological approach (a multilevel model).

What are the moderators on the study by Karsay et. al. (2017)?

They differentiated between moderators with regard to sample characteristics and study design characteristics. The moderator variables for sample characteristics were age, gender, ethnicity and whether the participants were mostly students or not. The moderator variables with regards to the study design characteristics were as follows: measure of self-objectification, design type, media type (overall television use, print media, internet, videogame, music), media content (sexualizing, not sexualizing, general), study location and year of publication, and intercoder reliability.

What is the general conclusion of the study by Karsay et. al. (2017)?

The meta-analysis showed there is a positive effect of sexualizing media use on self-objectification across various types of mass media presenting varying degrees of sexualizing content. The use of mass media increased self-objectification among men and women. The effect was small to moderate in size and very robust.

What are the effects of sample characteristics on the relation between sexualizing media and self-objectification?

The meta-analysis showed no moderation effect of age, but this may be because the age range of the samples was small, consisting almost entirely of adolescents and emerging adults. There was also no moderation effect of gender, which could possibly be due to the changed media environment in which men have as much probability of encountering sexualized depictions of men as women do of women. Additionally, ethnicity and student sample did not moderate the main effect.

Why does the use of video games and/or online media lead to stronger self-objectification when compared to television use?

There are several possible explanations for this result:

• Both video games and online media are characterized by relatively high levels of interactivity and control. You can kind of passively watch television and do another thing at the same time, but that doesn't really work for video games and online media.
• Video games may lead to high levels of the psychological experience of presence and the feeling of being located in that media environment.
• Video games are known for highly sexualized depictions of female and male game characters and many games allow individuals to play a character with a different body (and thus have the possibility of playing a game with a more idealized body type than the players' own body type).
• Social networking sites are characterized by personalized, visual content revolving around the self. Idealized videos and photos of the self, peers and other individuals may foster social comparisons and the internalization of appearance ideals (thus increasing self-objectification).