Method

For further information, contact the first author at as4297@stu.armstrong.edu

Thanks to student members of the Scott-Wolfe lab group for their assistance with this project.

Poster presented at the Armstrong Atlantic State University Student Research and Scholarship Symposium, Savannah, GA (4-14-10).

References

Fredrickson, B., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward’s understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173-206.

Holland, R., Roeder, U., van Baaren, R., Brandt, A., & Hannover, B. (2004). Don’t stand so close to me: The effects of self-construal on interpersonal closeness. Psychological Science, 15, 237-242.

Saguy, T., Quinn, D., Dovidio, J., & Pratto, F. (2010). Interacting like a body: Objectification can lead women to narrow their presence in social interactions. Psychological Science, doi: 10.1144/0956797609357751

IntroductionSexual objectification occurs when an individual’s body is viewed as an

instrument that exists for the pleasure of others. Sexual objectification occurs through a variety of mediums including video games, television, films, music videos, magazines, and advertising, as well personal encounters with others involving inappropriate comments about or gazes towards one’s body. Women who maintain desirable bodies are regularly rewarded by society with, for example, more marriage opportunities and economic and social success. Therefore, it is theorized that women participate in their own objectification by trying to appear as good objects (Frederickson & Roberts, 1997).

Saguy, Quinn, Dovidio, & Pratto (2010) tested this hypothesis with a talking time task. Participants were placed into one of three conditions: face (videoed from neck up), body (videoed from neck down), and audio (no videotaping), and were instructed to give an oral introduction of themselves to an alleged partner. Participants in the body condition talked significantly less than participants in the other two conditions. The current study replicated Saguy et al (2010), eliminating the face condition, and extended the study by adding subliminal sexual objectification prior to the talking time task and testing consumption of cognitive resources by adding a self-regulation measure.

Research suggests that unconscious/subliminal triggers can influence behavior. For example, Holland et al. (2004) primed students for closeness or distance by asking students to think about similarities or differences between themselves and their family. They found that students primed for closeness sat closer to another individual than students primed for distance. Therefore, we hypothesize that women briefly exposed to the sexual objectifying video game will decrease their talking time relative to women not exposed to the objectifying video game. We also hypothesize that women in the body condition will talk significantly less than women in the audio condition.

Saguy et al (2010) hypothesized that women in the body condition talked least because their cognitive resources were consumed by concerns of regulating their appearance. This concern could leave them with less capacity to organize and express their thoughts. Given that depletion of self-regulation resources also depletes cognitive resources, finding oneself in an objectifying environment should also deplete self-regulation resources reserved for later tasks requiring self-regulation, such as attempts to force oneself to consume a bad- tasting beverage. Specifically, women in both the objectifying videogame condition as well as the body condition will be expected to deplete their self-regulation resources more rapidly than women in all other conditions, and therefore will be expected to consume fewer ounces of the bad-tasting beverage for a monetary reward relative to women in other conditions.

ParticipantsParticipants will be recruited through the psychology department’s

research management system, SONA. They will receive extra credit in a course of their choice in exchange for participation.

MaterialsPre-experiment surveys will be administered through SONA. Two

small rooms will be utilized during the experiment. Video game exposure will be conducted using a Sony Play Station 2. Surveys completed during the experiment will be administered with a computer. Three ounce cups will be used to hold the bad-tasting liquid.

ProcedureUpon signing up for the study, participants will complete a series of

surveys online. The day of the experiment, participants will be greeted by a researcher at the designated meeting place. The participant will be taken to a waiting area where they will be asked to wait until the researcher is ready. One male confederate will also occupy the room. Depending on the condition, the confederate will be playing either a video game in which women are being sexually objectified or a neutral video game. The participant will be told the confederate student is waiting to participate in another study. The researcher will leave the room and will return to retrieve the participant and take her to the experimental room. The participant will complete an interaction task in which she believes a student in another room is watching her body from the neck down or only hearing her voice. The participant’s speech will be recorded and talking time will be measured. At this time the participant will receive either a series of body image questionnaires or be presented with a self-regulation task. This experiment will be performed in accordance with current ethical guidelines put forth by the American Psychological Association and has already met IRB approval.

Conclusion

Proposed ResultsFigure 1 shows results found by Saguy et al. (2010) accompanied by proposed results of the current study. We expect to find an even greater decrease in talking time for women in both the body and audio conditions due to the brief exposure to sexual objectification.

If the hypothesized results of this study are supported, then future research should be directed at uncovering evidence of similar detrimental effects in real-world settings where young men and women engage in potentially derogating interactions that contribute to negative stereotypes and behavior.

75

105

84.94

110.14

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Body Audio

Condition

Talk

ing

Tim

e (

s)

Proposed results --current study

Saguy et al. 2010

Does Exposure to Objectifying Video Games Images Lead to Presence Reduction in Women?Student Researchers: Amanda Steely & Amanda Herring / Faculty Advisors: Vann Scott & Wendy Wolfe