Potential implications of the objectification of women's bodies for women's sexual satisfaction.
The present study tested a sociocultural model of women's sexual satisfaction grounded in Objectification Theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). One hundred and one college women attending university in the UK completed measures of media internalization, body surveillance, body shame, sexual self-esteem, and sexual satisfaction. Consistent with predictions, the results of a path analysis indicated that greater internalization of appearance ideals from media sources leads to more body surveillance, which leads to higher body shame and lower sexual self-esteem, which, in turn, predicts less sexual satisfaction (only reached marginal significance for sexual self-esteem). In addition, body surveillance and body shame directly predicted sexual satisfaction. These results further implicate the sociocultural practices that objectify women in the disruption of women's experiences of sexual satisfaction.
Calogero
Rachel M
RM
Department of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NP, UK. R.M.Calogero@kent.ac.uk
Thompson
J Kevin
JK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008402:Mass Media; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D019529:Sexuality; D012752:Shame; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult