Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Facebook Involvement, Objectified Body Consciousness, Body Shame, and Sexual Assertiveness in College Women and Men

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Given the heightened attention to visual impression management on social media websites, previous research has demonstrated an association between Facebook use and objectified body consciousness among adolescent girls and young women in various Western countries, including the U.S. (e.g., Meier and Gray 2013). The current study aimed to test whether both young women and men using social networking sites are vulnerable to objectified body consciousness, and to extend this line of research to sexual health outcomes. We tested a path model of Facebook involvement, objectified body consciousness, body shame, and sexual assertiveness and examined whether the negative health consequences of objectified body consciousness were greater in magnitude for women than men. Participants in this study were U.S. college students in the Midwest, 467 women and 348 men, who on average reported using social networking sites for 6 years. They completed survey measures assessing their involvement in Facebook, body surveillance, appearance self-worth, and enjoyment of sexualization. They also reported on feelings of body shame and sexual assertiveness. For both women and men, Facebook involvement predicted objectified body consciousness, which in turn predicted greater body shame and decreased sexual assertiveness. The link between objectified body consciousness and body shame was greater in magnitude for women, but no gender difference was found in the association between body shame and sexual assertiveness. We suggest that social media foster a heightened experience of the self from an observer’s point of view, which has consequences for body image and sexual agency among women as well as men.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Attwood, F. (2009). Mainstreaming sex: The sexualization of Western culture. London: I.B. Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attwood, F. (2011). Through the looking glass? Sexual agency and subjectification online. In R. Gill & C. Scharff (Eds.), New femininities, post-feminism, neoliberalism and identity (pp. 203–214). London: Palgrave. doi:10.1057/9780230294523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernard, P., Gervais, S. J., Allen, J., Campomizzi, S., & Klein, O. (2012). Integrating sexual objectification with object versus person recognition: The sexualized-body-inversion hypothesis. Psychological Science, 23, 469–471. doi:10.1177/0956797611434748.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bordo, S. (1999). The male body: A new look at men in public and in private. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

  • boyd, d. m. (2008). Why youth heart social network sites: The role of networked publics in teenage social life. In D. Buckingham (Ed.), Youth, identity, and digital media (pp. 119–142). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

  • Byrne, B. M. (2006). Structural equation modeling with EQS: Basic concepts, applications and programming (2nd ed.). Mahwah: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calogero, R. M., & Thompson, J. K. (2009). Potential implications of the objectification of women’s bodies for women’s sexual satisfaction. Body Image, 6, 145–148. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2009.01.001.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chou, H., & Edge, N. (2012). They are happier and having better lives than I am: The impact of using Facebook on perceptions of others’ lives. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 15, 117–121. doi:10.1089/cyber.2011.0324.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chou, C.-P., Bentler, P. M., & Satorra, A. (1991). Scaled test statistics and robust standard errors for non-normal data in covariance structure analysis: A Monte Carlo study. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 44, 347–357. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8317.1991.tb00966.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Claudat, K., Warren, C. S., & Durette, R. T. (2012). The relationships between body surveillance, body shame, and contextualized body concern during sexual activities in ethnically diverse female college students. Body Image, 9, 448–454. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.05.007.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cole, B., Davidson, M. M., & Gervais, S. J. (2013). Body surveillance and body shame in college men: Are men who self-objectify less hopeful? Sex Roles, 69, 29–41. doi:10.1007/s11199-013-0282-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawford, M., & Popp, D. (2003). Sexual double standards: A review and methodological critique of two decades of research. Journal of Sex Research, 40, 13–26. doi:10.1080/00224490309552163.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Curtin, N., Ward, L. M., Merriwether, A., & Caruthers, A. (2011). Femininity ideology and sexual health in young women: A focus on sexual knowledge, embodiment, and agency. International Journal of Sexual Health, 23, 48–62. doi:10.1080/19317611.2010.524694.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vries, D. A., & Peter, J. (2013). Women on display: The effect of portraying the self online on women’s self-objectification. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 1483–1489. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.01.015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends:” Social capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 12, 1143–1168. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00367.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, D. A., Fessler, D. T., & Haselton, M. G. (2005). Do representations of male muscularity differ in men’s and women’s magazines? Body Image, 2, 81–86. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.12.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. A. (1997). Objectification Theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gervais, S. J., Vescio, T. K., & Allen, J. (2011). When what you see is what you get: The consequences of the objectifying gaze for women and men. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35, 5–17. doi:10.1177/0361684310386121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, R. (2012). Media, empowerment and the ‘sexualization of culture’ debates. Sex Roles, 66, 736–745. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-0107-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, M. K., & Ward, L. M. (2000). I’m beautiful, therefore I’m worthy: Assessing associations between media use and adolescents’ self-worth. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grabe, S., Hyde, J. S., & Lindberg, S. (2007). Body objectification and depression in adolescents: The role of gender, shame, and rumination. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31, 164–175. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2007.00350.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haferkamp, N., & Kramer, N. (2011). Social comparison 2.0: Examining the effects of online profiles on social networking sites. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 14, 309–314. doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0120.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modelling, 6, 1–55. doi:10.1080/10705519909540118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurlbert, D. F. (1991). The role of assertiveness in female sexuality: A comparative study between sexually assertive and sexually nonassertive women. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 17, 183–190. doi:10.1080/00926239108404342.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Impett, E. A., Schooler, D., & Tolman, D. L. (2006). To be seen and not heard: Femininity ideology and adolescent girls’ sexual health. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 35, 131–144. doi:10.1007/s10508-005-9016-0.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Keery, H., van den Berg, P., & Thompson, J. K. (2004). An evaluation of the Tripartite Influence Model of body dissatisfaction and eating disturbance with adolescent girls. Body Image, 3, 237–251. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2004.03.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J. L., Sorsoli, C. L., Collins, K., Zylbergold, B. A., Schooler, D., & Tolman, D. L. (2007). From sex to sexuality: Exposing the heterosexual script on primetime network television. The Journal of Sex Research, 44, 145–157. doi:10.1080/00224490701263660.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knauss, C., Paxton, S. J., & Alsaker, F. D. (2008). Body dissatisfaction in adolescent boys and girls: Objectified body consciousness, internalization of media body ideal, and perceived pressure from media. Sex Roles, 59, 633–643. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9474-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lerum, K., & Dworkin, S. L. (2009). “Bad girls rule”: An interdisciplinary feminist commentary on the report of the APA task force on the sexualization of girls. Journal of Sex Research, 46, 250–263. doi:10.1080/00224490903079542.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg, S. M., Hyde, J. S., & McKinley, N. M. (2006). A measure of objectified body consciousness for preadolescent and adolescent youth. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 65–76. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00263.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liss, M., Erchull, M. J., & Ramsey, L. R. (2011). Empowering or oppressing? Development and exploration of the enjoyment of sexualization scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 55–68. doi:10.1177/0146167210386119.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, S. (2008). Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers’ use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy, and self-expression. New Media Society, 10, 393–411. doi:10.1177/1461444808089415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manago, A. M. (2013). Negotiating a sexy masculinity on MySpace. Feminism & Psychology, 23, 478–497. doi:10.1177/0959353513487549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manago, A. M. (2014). Identity development in the digital age: The case of social networking sites. In K. C. McLean & M. Syed (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of identity development (pp. 508–524). New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199936564.013.031.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manago, A. M., Graham, M. B., Greenfield, P. M., & Salimkhan, G. (2008). Self-presentation and gender on MySpace. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 446–458. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martins, Y., Tiggemann, M., & Kirkbride, A. (2007). Those speedos become them: The role of self-objectification in gay and heterosexual men’s body image. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33, 634–647. doi:10.1177/0146167206297403.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McKinley, N. M. (2006). Longitudinal gender differences in objectified body consciousness and weight-related attitudes and behaviors: Cultural and developmental contexts in the transition from college. Sex Roles, 54, 159–173. doi:10.1007/s11199-006-9335-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinley, N. M., & Hyde, J. S. (1996). The objectified body consciousness scale: Development and validation. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 181–215. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1996.tb00467.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meier, E. P., & Gray, J. (2013). Facebook photo activity associated with body image disturbance in adolescent girls. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 17, 199–206. doi:10.1089/cyber.2013.0305.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Michaels, M. S., Parent, M. C., & Moradi, B. (2013). Does exposure to muscularity-idealizing images have self-objectification consequences for heterosexual and sexual minority men? Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 14, 175–183. doi:10.1037/a0027259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moradi, B., & Huang, Y. (2008). Objectification theory and psychology of women: A decade of advances and future directions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 377–398. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2008.00452.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, J. (1999). Writing in the body: Gender (Re)production in online interaction. In P. Kollock & M. Smith (Eds.), Communities in Cyberspace (pp. 76–104). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parent, M. C., & Moradi, B. (2011). His biceps become him: A test of objectification theory’s application to drive for muscularity and propensity for steroid use in college men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58, 246–256. doi:10.1037/a0021398.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. M. (2011). The influence of sexually explicit internet material on sexual risk behavior: A comparison of adolescents and adults. Journal of Health Communication, 16, 750–765. doi:10.1080/10810730.2011.551996.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, D. M., Kallen, R. W., Twenge, J. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). The disruptive effect of self-objectification on performance. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 59–64. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00262.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ridolfi, D. R., Myers, T. A., Crowther, J. H., & Ciesla, J. A. (2011). Do appearance focused cognitive distortions moderate the relationship between social comparisons to peers and media images and body image disturbance? Sex Roles, 65, 491–505. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-9961-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringrose, J. (2011). Are you sexy, flirty, or a slut? Exploring ‘sexualization’ and how teen girls perform/ negotiate digital sexual identity on social networking sites. In R. Gill & C. Scharff (Eds.), New femininities, post-feminism, neoliberalism and identity (pp. 99–116). London: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodino, M. (1997). Breaking out of binaries: Reconceptualizing gender and its relationship to language in computer mediated communication. Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 3, 0. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.1997.tb00074.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohlinger, D. (2002). Eroticizing men: Cultural influences on advertising and male objectification. Sex Roles, 46, 61–74. doi:10.1023/A:1016575909173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, A. (1994). Media uses and effects: A uses-and-gratifications perspective. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 417–436). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salimkhan, G., Manago, A. M., & Greenfield, P. M. (2010). The construction of the virtual self on MySpace. CyberPsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 4, art 1.

  • Savalei, V., & Bentler, P. (2006). Structural equation modeling. In R. Grover & M. Vriens (Eds.), The handbook of marketing research: Uses, misuses, and future advances (pp. 330–365). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schooler, D., & Ward, L. M. (2006). Average Joes: Men’s relationships with media, real bodies, and sexuality. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 7, 27–41. doi:10.1037/1524-9220.7.1.27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Siibak, A. (2010). Constructing masculinity on a social network site. Young: Nordic Journal of Youth Research, 18, 403–425. doi:10.1177/110330881001800403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smiler, A. P., Ward, L. M., Caruthers, A., & Merriwether, A. (2005). Pleasure, empowerment, and love: Factors associated with positive first coitus. Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 2, 41–55. doi:10.1525/srsp.2005.2.3.41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steer, A., & Tiggemann, M. (2008). The role of self-objectification in women’s sexual functioning. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 27, 205–225. doi:10.1521/jscp.2008.27.3.205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stefanone, M. A., Lackaff, D., & Rosen, D. (2011). Contingencies of self-worth and social networking site behavior. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 14, 41–49. doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0049.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Strelan, P., & Hargreaves, D. (2005). Women who objectify other women: The vicious circle of objectification? Sex Roles, 52, 707–712. doi:10.1007/s11199-005-3737-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subrahmanyam, K., & Smahel, D. (2011). Digital youth: The role of media in development. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, A. B., MacKinnon, D. P., & Tein, J. Y. (2008). Tests of the three-path mediated effect. Organizational Research Methods, 11, 241–269. doi:10.1177/1094428107300344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiggemann, M., & Miller, J. (2010). The Internet and adolescent girls’ weight satisfaction and drive for thinness. Sex Roles, 63, 79–90. doi:10.1007/s11199-010-9789-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiggemann, M., & Slater, A. (2013). NetGirls: The Internet, Facebook, and body image concern in adolescent girls. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 46, 630–633. doi:10.1002/eat.22141.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tiggemann, M., & Williams, E. (2012). The role of self-objectification in disordered eating, depressed mood, and sexual functioning among women: A comprehensive test of objectification theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 36, 66–75. doi:10.1177/0361684311420250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tolman, D. L., Impett, E. A., Tracy, A. J., & Michael, A. (2006). Looking good, sounding good: Femininity ideology and adolescent girls’ mental health. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 85–95. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00265.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Doorn, N. (2010). The ties that bind: The networked performance of gender, sexuality and friendship on MySpace. New Media Society, 12, 583–602. doi:10.1177/1461444809342766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenbosch, L., & Eggermont, S. (2012). Understanding sexual objectification: A comprehensive approach toward media exposure and girls’ internalization of beauty ideals, self-objectification, and body surveillance. Journal of Communication, 62, 869–887. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01667.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenbosch, L., & Eggermont, S. (2013). Sexualization of adolescent boys: Media exposure and boys’ internalization of appearance ideals, self-objectification, and body surveillance. Men and Masculinities, 16, 283–306. doi:10.1177/1097184X13477866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandenbosch, L., & Eggermont, S. (2014). The three step process of self-objectification: Potential implications for adolescents’ body consciousness during sexual activity. Body Image, 11, 77–80. doi:10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.10.005.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Visser, B. A., Sultani, F., Choma, B. L., & Pozzebon, J. A. (2014). Enjoyment of sexualization: Is it different for men. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. doi:10.1111/jasp.12241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ybarra, M., & Mitchell, K. J. (2005). Exposure to Internet pornography among children and adolescents: A national survey. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8, 473–486. doi:10.1089/cpb.2005.8.473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, S., Grasmuck, S., & Martin, J. (2008). Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 1816–1836. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2008.02.012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Western Washington University, 516 High Street, MS 9172, Bellingham, WA, 98225-9172, USA

    Adriana M. Manago & Kristi M. Lemm

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    L. Monique Ward, Lauren Reed & Rita Seabrook

Authors
  1. Adriana M. Manago
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L. Monique Ward
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kristi M. Lemm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lauren Reed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Rita Seabrook
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adriana M. Manago.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Manago, A.M., Ward, L.M., Lemm, K.M. et al. Facebook Involvement, Objectified Body Consciousness, Body Shame, and Sexual Assertiveness in College Women and Men. Sex Roles 72, 1–14 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0441-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0441-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation