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A Preliminary Experimental Study of Self-Objectification and Risky Sex Behavior Among a University Sample of Cisgender Women in the U.S.

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Abstract

Self-objectification is associated with a number of negative mental and behavioral outcomes. Though previous research has established associations between self-objectification and risky sex, no study to date has examined whether self-objectification affects propensity to engage in risky sex. The current research employed an experimental design to examine the effect of heightened self-objectification on a laboratory analog of risky sex (n = 181). We observed that when college-attending women experienced a heightened state of self-objectification, they were more likely to engage in sex without a condom and less likely to wait to use a condom with a highly desirable partner. Given the frequency of intended and unintended objectifying messages that young women face, this increase in willingness to engage in risky sex behavior represents a consequential health concern.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 100 E Cameron Ave., Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, USA

    Katherine M. Ingram

  2. Renée Crown Wellness Institute- University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Anahi Collado

  3. Division of Public Health, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Julia W. Felton

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Richard Yi

  5. Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Richard Yi

Authors
  1. Katherine M. Ingram
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  2. Anahi Collado
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  3. Julia W. Felton
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  4. Richard Yi
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Contributions

KI, RY, and AC contributed to the study conception and design. KI facilitated data collection, with supervision and support from AC and RY. Data analysis was performed by JF and KI. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KI, and all authors offered substantial revisions. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Katherine M. Ingram.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Ingram, K.M., Collado, A., Felton, J.W. et al. A Preliminary Experimental Study of Self-Objectification and Risky Sex Behavior Among a University Sample of Cisgender Women in the U.S.. Arch Sex Behav 52, 1643–1651 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02510-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02510-5

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