Abstract
At present, there have been a number of studies examining the sexualization of female characters in various media. However, most studies to date have not clearly delineated whether sexualized images or the presence of assertive versus passive female characters influences negative attitudes toward women in viewers, as well as female viewer anxiety. The present study investigated whether the inclusion of powerful female characters in movies with sexualized content influences both male and female viewers’ attitudes towards women as well as anxiety responses of female reviewers. Participants included 134 undergraduate students attending a private liberal arts university in the southern region of the United States. Participants were randomized to watch one of three movie conditions: first, movies that involve strong female lead characters, but which also include sexualized characters, Second, movies that involve strong female lead characters without sexualization and third, movies that involve sexualized female characters without strong portrayals (i.e. damsels in distress). Participants were measured on attitudes toward women, rape myth acceptance and anxiety. Results indicated little support for the view that sexualized media impacted viewers’ attitudes toward women, rape myth acceptance or anxiety.
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Notes
The name of the theory refers to Buffy the Vampire Slayer a television show featuring a strong female lead in an action/horror themed narrative.
Our original preregistration document suggested we would analyze the results using ANCOVA with gender as a covariate. Upon data analysis, given that gender was included in our hypotheses, we felt it made more sense to include gender as a dependent variable. We here certify that this alteration was not made in order to achieve any particular desired set of results, and that, when rerunning the data using ANCOVA, the primary effects of media type did not change.
The lead author graduated and moved away for graduate school, necessitating discontinuation of data collection.
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Mubarak, N., Ferguson, C.J. Pride and prejudice and zombies…and statistics: Effects of powerful female role-models in media on attitudes towards women, and female viewer anxiety. Curr Psychol 41, 691–696 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00605-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00605-7