Expanding Models Testing Media Contributions to Self-Sexualization

Abstract

Although everyday exposure to mainstream media is theorized to be associated with women’s self-objectification, empirical tests of this association have yielded mixed results. There are several possible explanations for these mixed results. For example, it may be that mainstream media relate to women’s broader tendency to self-sexualize rather than to self-objectify, that newer forms of media (i.e., social media) should be incorporated into these models, or that these associations may operate indirectly. Accordingly, the current study examines how traditional media and Facebook investment are associated with women’s tendency to self-sexualize and tests whether these associations are mediated by the view of women as sexual objects, internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived pressure to conform to this ideal. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that magazine and Facebook investment predicted only internalization of the thin ideal, whereas reality television and sitcom exposure predicted all three mediators. Media use was indirectly related to self-sexualization through internalization of the thin ideal and the view of women as sexual objects. These results support the value of incorporating broader definitions of self-sexualization, diverse forms of media, and potential mediators into future models.

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https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019848905
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DOI: 10.1177/2158244019848905
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Original Research
Objectification theorists (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997;
McKinley & Hyde, 1996) propose that women in Western
society must navigate a culture that views them not as active
agents but rather as sexual objects, a collection of body parts
whose value is determined by their physical appearance and
sexual attractiveness to others. Over time, women come to
internalize this third-person perspective and engage in self-
objectification, valuing the external, observable characteris-
tics of their body more than the internal, unobservable
characteristics (Noll & Fredrickson, 1998). As part of this
process, women are believed to engage in body surveillance
or body monitoring, whereby they continually assess the
extent to which their external appearance aligns with cultur-
ally valued ideals. The maintenance of this so-called objecti-
fied body consciousness (McKinley & Hyde, 1996) has been
theoretically and empirically linked to reduced awareness of
internal bodily states, reduced flow (i.e., mental focus or
concentration), disordered eating, and sexual dysfunction
(Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Moradi & Huang, 2008).
One of the many socialization agents believed to contrib-
ute to women’s development of an objectified body con-
sciousness are the mainstream media, the content of which
frequently equates women’s value as people to their sexual
attractiveness. The power of these portrayals in triggering
self-objectification may come both from their prevalence
and their accessibility. Indeed, sexually objectifying
portrayals have been observed at high rates in primetime and
reality television, in music videos, and in advertising (Aubrey
& Frisby, 2011; Flynn, Park, Morin, & Stana, 2015;
Messineo, 2008; Smith, Choueiti, Prescott, & Pieper, 2012;
Turner, 2011). Moreover, adolescents and emerging adults,
respectively, spend on average 8 and 12 hr consuming media
each day, creating circumstances in which regular exposure
to sexually objectifying images of women is likely chronic
and virtually unavoidable (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010;
Ward, Seabrook, Giaccardi, & Zuo, 2015).
However, few studies have actually examined the direct
link between everyday media use and self-objectification
among youth (see Ward, 2016, for a review), and the pattern
of results that has emerged is inconsistent. Within this small
body of literature, self-objectification is typically operation-
alized as either the tendency to surveil one’s own body
(McKinley & Hyde, 1996) or as the tendency to value
observable, appearance-related aspects of the body more
than unobservable, competence-related aspects of the body
848905SGOXXX10.1177/2158244019848905SAGE OpenGrower et al.
research-article20192019
1University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
2University of Leuven, Belgium
Corresponding Author:
Petal Grower, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI
48109-1043, USA.
Email: pgrower@umich.edu
Expanding Models Testing Media
Contributions to Self-Sexualization
Petal Grower1, L. Monique Ward1, and Jolien Trekels2
Abstract
Although everyday exposure to mainstream media is theorized to be associated with women’s self-objectification, empirical
tests of this association have yielded mixed results. There are several possible explanations for these mixed results. For
example, it may be that mainstream media relate to women’s broader tendency to self-sexualize rather than to self-objectify,
that newer forms of media (i.e., social media) should be incorporated into these models, or that these associations may
operate indirectly. Accordingly, the current study examines how traditional media and Facebook investment are associated
with women’s tendency to self-sexualize and tests whether these associations are mediated by the view of women as sexual
objects, internalization of the thin ideal, and perceived pressure to conform to this ideal. Structural equation modeling
demonstrated that magazine and Facebook investment predicted only internalization of the thin ideal, whereas reality
television and sitcom exposure predicted all three mediators. Media use was indirectly related to self-sexualization through
internalization of the thin ideal and the view of women as sexual objects. These results support the value of incorporating
broader definitions of self-sexualization, diverse forms of media, and potential mediators into future models.
Keywords
sexualization, objectification, traditional media, social media, mediators

2 SAGE Open
(Noll & Fredrickson, 1998). A few studies have successfully
linked composite measures of media consumption to valuing
body appearance over body competence (Aubrey, 2006b;
Nowatzki & Morry, 2009). Other studies have found associa-
tions between sexually objectifying television content and
valuing body appearance over body competence (Aubrey,
2006a; Vandenbosch, Muise, Eggermont, & Impett, 2015).
Finally, several studies have linked consumption of sexually
objectifying magazines (particularly beauty/fashion maga-
zines or other appearance-oriented magazines) both to valu-
ing body appearance over body competence and to body
surveillance (Aubrey, 2007; Fardouly, Diedrichs, Vartanian,
& Halliwell, 2015; Morry & Staska, 2001; Vandenbosch &
Eggermont, 2012, 2015).
However, there are also studies that have demonstrated
null results. For example, some studies have failed to find a
link between sexually objectifying television and self-
objectification (Fardouly et al., 2015; Slater & Tiggemann,
2015; Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2012; Zurbriggen,
Ramsey, & Jaworski, 2011) or have linked media exposure to
one component of sexual objectification but not others (i.e.,
valuing body appearance over body competence but not
body surveillance; Aubrey, 2006a, 2007). Other studies have
found inconsistent results when examining fitness magazines
specifically or sexually objectifying magazines more gener-
ally (Morry & Staska, 2001).
One Potential Culprit:
Self-Objectification Versus
Self-Sexualization
There are several possible explanations for the inconsistent
results observed in this literature. One potential explanation
is the fact that these studies emphasize self-objectification
alone as the outcome of interest. Although these studies
build upon prior literature by measuring body surveillance
and self-objectification (operationalized as valuing body
appearance over body competence), it may be that self-
objectification alone does not best capture how women
respond when exposed to sexually objectified women in the
media. Instead, it may be the case that chronic exposure to
sexually objectified portrayals in mainstream media relates
to women’s tendency not only to self-objectify, but also to
their tendency to self-sexualize, which includes elements
that extend above and beyond self-objectification. The
American Psychological Association [APA] Task Force on
the Sexualization of Girls (APA, 2007) defines sexualiza-
tion as occurring when
a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or
behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics; OR a person
is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness
(narrowly defined) with being sexy; OR a person is sexually
objectified—that is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use; OR
sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person. (p. 1)
Under this definition, self-objectification is just one compo-
nent of self-sexualization, which may more accurately repre-
sent how women respond to chronic exposure to sexual
objectification in the media. Women may not only learn to
self-objectify from the media but may also internalize mes-
sages about how their sex appeal contributes to their sense of
self-worth. For this reason, it is possible that studies examin-
ing self-sexualization may find more consistent links than
those examining self-objectification alone.
Two measures commonly employed in the examination
of this broader construct of self-sexualization are the
Enjoyment of Sexualization Scale (ESS; Liss, Erchull, &
Ramsey, 2011) and the Sexual Appeal subscale of the Self-
Worth Scale (SASW; Gordon & Ward, 2000). Following
the definition of sexualization outlined by the APA Task
Force on the Sexualization of Girls (APA, 2007), these
measures work well to capture both women’s potential
enjoyment in being valued for their sexiness and women’s
valuing of themselves primarily for their sexual appeal to
others. The ESS was designed to assess the extent to which
women seek to and enjoy emphasizing their sexiness, two
messages that are commonly purveyed through main-
stream media. In developing the ESS, the authors found
significant correlations between enjoyment of sexualiza-
tion, body surveillance, self-objectification, and engage-
ment in self-sexualizing behaviors, though these significant
correlations do not exceed .5. Together, these data suggest
that these items reflect similar, but not completely overlap-
ping, constructs.
Similarly, the SASW has been used successfully as part of
a latent variable capturing self-sexualization in three studies
(Manago, Ward, Lemm, Reed, & Seabrook, 2015; Ward,
Seabrook, Grower, Giaccardi, & Lippman, 2018; Ward,
Seabrook, Manago, & Reed, 2016). Items on this scale reflect
the extent to which an individual’s self-worth is grounded in
her or his romantic or sexual appeal to others. In each study
in which it was used, correlations between SASW, ESS, and
Body Surveillance were significant and ranged from .41 to
.50. Again, the fact that correlations between these variables
did not exceed .5 suggests that this scale may be capturing
some unique component of self-sexualization.
Accordingly, we argue that the existing literature provides
support for using these scales together to assess self-
sexualization, providing a means to better understand how
women may internalize different media messages and how
these media messages may influence women’s beliefs about
themselves and their bodies. These multiple measures serve
as a way of capturing the multi-dimensional construct of
self-sexualization. If models assessing self-sexualization
rather than self-objectification were to find more consistent
results, this outcome would lend credence to the notion that
including aspects of sexualization is an important next step
in clarifying and understanding the link between everyday
mainstream media consumption and women’s feelings about
their bodies.

Grower et al. 3
A Second Potential Culprit: Traditional
Media Versus Social Media
The second potential explanation for the inconsistent results
found in the existing literature is the conceptualization and
measurement of the media involved. Specifically, it may be
important to move beyond measures of activity on social net-
working sites (SNS) and instead consider the extent to which
a person is invested or involved with social media. Social
media are increasingly vital components of individuals’
media diets. At the time of data collection, Facebook was the
most popular SNS among teens and young adults; estimates
indicate that among 18- to 29-year-old women, 87% used
Facebook in 2014 (Duggan, Ellison, Lampe, Lenhart, &
Madden, 2015; Lenhart, 2015). More recent data show that
43% of teens use Facebook, with 15% reporting that they use
it the most compared with several other SNS (Common
Sense Media, 2018). Not only is social media use prevalent,
but these media differ fundamentally from traditional media
in their interactivity. Users not only consume but also con-
struct their social media environments, suggesting that these
media may have a particularly potent impact on women’s
tendency to self-sexualize. Moreover, the “characters” on
social media consist of an individual’s peers, perhaps serving
to reinforce the notion that the ideals presented therein are
particularly relevant for the self to obtain (Perloff, 2014). For
these reasons, users of SNS may be particularly affected by
the content.
Early research in this domain examined whether the amount
of time spent using social media affected women’s feelings
about their body and their tendencies to self-objectify. Here,
findings demonstrated that women who spent more time on
SNS such as Facebook and Myspace reported greater endorse-
ment of the thin ideal, a greater tendency to engage in social
comparison, more body dissatisfaction, and higher levels of
body surveillance when compared with women who spent less
time on SNS (Fardouly & Vartanian, 2015; Holland &
Tiggemann, 2016; Tiggemann & Slater, 2014, 2015, 2017). Of
particular note, some of this research implicated SNS as being
more influential than traditional media in their potential asso-
ciations with self-objectification. For example, Vandenbosch
and Eggermont (2012) found that in a model with both tradi-
tional media and SNS, only the use of SNS was directly related
to self-objectification. Girls in this study who reported view-
ing higher levels of sexually objectifying content on their
feeds also reported higher endorsement of Western beauty ide-
als, a greater valuation of appearance in their self-worth, and
higher levels body surveillance.
Other research has examined how different SNS or differ-
ent features of these SNS might be associated with women’s
self-objectification tendencies (e.g., differential influences
of photo-based SNS vs. text-based SNS; posting photos vs.
status updates; Manago et al., 2015; Mingoia, Hutchinson,
Wilson, & Gleaves, 2017; Saunders & Eaton, 2018). For
example, in the case of photo-based activity, research has
illustrated that women who report engaging in more photo-
heavy activity online also report higher levels of appearance
self-worth, greater endorsement of the thin ideal, higher lev-
els of body shame, a greater tendency to surveil their bodies,
and are more likely to incorporate self-sexualizing elements
in their own photos (based on profiles created in the context
of an experiment; R. Cohen, Newton-John, & Slater, 2017;
de Vries & Peter, 2013; Salomon & Brown, 2018). Women
who reported viewing a lot of photos on SNS also reported
greater weight dissatisfaction, stronger endorsement of the
thin ideal, and higher levels self-objectification (Meier &
Gray, 2014). Other work has shown that using SNS to moni-
tor attractive peers, or having appearance-oriented conversa-
tions with peers, is linked to adolescents’ self-reported
tendency to self-objectify, to surveil their bodies, and to self-
sexualize (Trekels, Ward, & Eggermont, 2018; Vandenbosch
& Eggermont, 2015).
This small body of work lends supports to the idea that
SNS may provide particularly relevant models of sexually
objectified women, even more so than other types of media.
Given this pattern of results and the unique way in which
women can engage with social media, we feel that it is
important to incorporate not only social media usage but also
social media investment into models linking media use, self-
objectification, and self-sexualization. By including diverse
forms of media, researchers may better capture individuals’
real-world media diets and thus construct a richer under-
standing of how exposure to sexually objectifying media
relates to individuals’ tendencies to self-sexualize.
Third Potential Culprit: Direct
Versus Mediated Connections
As a final possible explanation for the inconsistent results in
the current literature, we argue that it is possible that associa-
tions between women’s media use and their tendency to self-
sexualize may operate indirectly; because most studies have
focused on direct effects models, they may not be fully cap-
turing the process at hand. There is both theoretical and
empirical precedent in the literature to suggest that the link
between media use and other body image outcomes (e.g.,
body dissatisfaction) may involve several potential media-
tors, including body-related cognitions and affect. One medi-
ator proposed is women’s internalization of the thin ideal
(Rousseau, Beyens, Eggermont, & Vandenbosch, 2017;
Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2015). Thin-ideal internaliza-
tion has been defined as the extent to which women are
aware of the importance placed on appearance in Western
cultures and internalize these beliefs by endorsing and desir-
ing to emulate these social standards (Groesz, Levine, &
Murnen, 2002; Thompson & Stice, 2001).
One common model examining the potential mediating
role of thin-ideal internalization is the three-step process of
self-objectification proposed by Vandenbosch and Eggermont
(2012). These authors propose that women consider the thin

4 SAGE Open
ideal presented in the media as an appropriate standard for
their own appearance and come to value the observable,
appearance-related aspects of their body more than the unob-
servable, competence-related aspects of their body. This
internalizing of the thin ideal and valuing body appearance
over body competence relates to women’s tendency to sur-
veil their bodies in an ongoing effort to ensure their bodies
are conforming to these media-driven standards of beauty
(Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2012, 2015). This model has
been supported with empirical data and highlights the poten-
tially vital of role of internalization as a cognitive process
underlying the association between media and self-sexual-
ization, as internalization of the thin ideal was correlated
with almost all types of media assessed. In addition, body
surveillance was seldom directly related to media use and
instead operated through internalization of appearance ide-
als. Together, this work provides empirical evidence that the
media serve as purveyors of the thin ideal, and that the extent
to which women internalize this ideal may serve as a power-
ful mechanism undergirding their tendency to self-objectify
and potentially to self-sexualize.
A second potential mediator is the pressure women per-
ceive to conform to media ideals. Given the way in which
Western culture values the thin ideal, it has been theorized
that women are likely to perceive pressure from various
sources, including the media, their friends, and their fam-
ily, to conform to this ideal (Myers & Crowther, 2007;
Stice, 2002). Research has supported an association
between these perceived sociocultural pressures and body
dissatisfaction both experimentally and in correlational
research (Groesz et al., 2002; Myers & Crowther, 2007;
Stice & Whitenton, 2002). In a similar vein, researchers
have proposed that perceived pressure to conform to
media ideals might contribute to women’s tendency to
self-objectify. It stands to reason that chronic exposure to
sexually objectifying media creates a sense of pressure for
female consumers not only to obtain the bodies presented
in media but also to construct notions of the self that are
similarly reductive (i.e., objectified or sexualized).
Although this association has only been tested empirically
in a few studies (e.g., Tylka & Hill, 2004), the work that
does exist provides preliminary support to the idea that
pressure contributes to women’s tendency to self-objec-
tify. For example, Knauss, Paxton, and Alsaker (2008)
found that greater perceived pressure from the media
(both directly and through greater thin-ideal internaliza-
tion) was linked to adolescents’ tendency to monitor their
bodies. In line with this thinking, we would anticipate that
perceived sociocultural pressure might act as an important
cognitive mechanism mediating the association between
media use and women’s tendencies to self-objectify and
self-sexualize.
A third potential mediator may be women’s view of other
women as sexual objects. Objectification theorists posit that
women observe other women being objectified in society at
large and in the media, and that they then turn this tendency
to objectify upon themselves. Though explicitly stated in
objectification theory, this process of turning the objectifying
gaze onto the self has yet to be empirically tested. This
dynamic is supported not only by objectification theory but
also by cultivation theorists, who would posit that chronic
media exposure cultivates a shared sense of social reality and
social norms (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). Applying cultivation
theory to sexualized media, it is possible that exposure to
sexually objectified women in the media would cultivate a
sense that women are sexual objects. This cultivated belief,
particularly over time, might normalize the expectation that
women objectify themselves. Prior work supports the poten-
tial role of this mediating variable, as different types of media
exposure have demonstrated correlations with women’s ten-
dency to endorse objectifying statements about women
(Gordon, 2008; Hust & Lei, 2008), and with men’s tendency
to objectify women (Ward, Vandenbosch, & Eggermont,
2015). Even preferences for certain types of media (e.g., hip
hop music; explicit sexual content online) seem to cultivate a
particular view of women as sex objects (ter Bogt, Engels,
Bogers, & Kloosterman, 2010). Empirically testing how
women’s thoughts about other women influence their own
tendency to self-objectify and self-sexualize would shed
light on the potential cognitive mechanisms undergirding the
inconsistent media–body links in prior research.
The Current Study
Accordingly, the current study examined associations
between media exposure and young women’s self-
sexualization, operationalized as the extent to which they
report monitoring their appearance, report enjoyment of sexu-
alization by others, and report grounding their self-worth in
their sexual appeal. By including these broader measures of
self-sexualization as opposed to self-objectification alone, we
hoped to better capture the complex ways in which media use
is associated with young adult women’s beliefs, attitudes, and
behaviors toward their own bodies (Ward et al., 2018; Ward
et al., 2016). In addition, the current study examined whether
the link between media use and self-sexualization is statisti-
cally mediated by internalization of the thin ideal, perceived
pressure to achieve these ideals, and the view of other women
as sexual objects. In doing so, we built upon prior theory and
research supporting internalization of the thin ideal as a
mechanism linking media exposure and women’s tendency to
self-objectify and hoped to shed light on other potential cog-
nitive mechanisms potentially undergirding this link. We
chose to include a diverse set of media measures, including
three genres of television, magazine consumption, and
Facebook investment. By assessing facets of young women’s
use of traditional media, print media, and social media, we
hoped to better capture the breadth of young women’s mod-
ern media environment and to investigate whether different
types of media demonstrate particular potency in their

Grower et al. 5
connections to young women’s body image and objectifica-
tion. We hypothesized that:
Hypothesis 1: Heavier exposure to each of the different
types of media would be associated with higher self-
reported internalization of the thin ideal, greater subjec-
tive feelings of pressure to conform to cultural beauty
ideals, and stronger endorsement of the view that other
women are sex objects.
Hypothesis 2: Higher belief that women are sexual
objects, higher internalization of cultural beauty ideals,
and higher perceived pressure to conform to these ideals
would be associated with women’s self-reported self-
sexualization (as assessed by their self-reported tendency
to self-objectify, enjoyment of sexualization, and stronger
grounding of their self-worth in their sex appeal).
In addition, this article examined whether associations
between media use and self-sexualization are most accu-
rately represented as direct relations or as indirect relations.
Although the literature would suggest a mediated association
may be most appropriate, these alternative models were
compared, as they are founded on different theoretical
assumptions about how media use relates to women’s ten-
dency to self-sexualize. Support for a mediated model would
highlight the role of several potential cognitive mechanisms
in the self-objectification process.
Method
Participants
Participants were 663 undergraduate women aged 17 to 24
(M = 18.65, SD = 0.98) years. Regarding their ethnic/racial
identification, 63.7% (n = 422) self-identified as White,
19.0% (n = 126) as Asian, 7.7% (n = 51) as Black or African
American, 5.3% (n = 35) as Latina, 3% (n = 20) as Middle
Eastern, 0.6% (n = 4) as Multiracial, 0.3% (n = 2) as Native
American, and 0.2% (n = 1) as Other. An additional 0.3% (n
= 2) of the sample did not report their race. Participants
came from fairly well-educated backgrounds, reporting on
average that both their mother and father had graduated from
college (M = 16.71 years of schooling for mothers and M =
17.17 years of schooling for fathers).
Religiosity was assessed using three items, each scored on
a 1 (not at all/never) to 5 (very religious/all the time) scale.
Responses to the following three items were averaged: “How
religious are you?” “How often do you go to religious ser-
vices (like church or temple)?” and “How often do you pray?”
The sample was moderately religious, with a mean score fall-
ing slightly above the midpoint (M = 2.69, SD = 1.94).
Sexual experience was assessed with a single question, “How
would you describe your current level of experience with dat-
ing and sexual relationships?” Response options ranged from
0 “just starting out (virgin)” to 10 “have had several sexual
relationships.” Average sexual experience level for the cur-
rent sample was 4.32, roughly corresponding to the response
option “1-2 sexual partners (no longer a virgin).”
Measures
Media exposure. To examine magazine consumption, partici-
pants were asked to indicate how many issues per year
(between 0 and 12) they read of the following 12 monthly
women’s magazines: Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, In
Style, Marie Claire, Self, Seventeen, Shape, Vanity Fair,
Vogue, and Women’s Health. This selection of magazines was
chosen partly from past research (e.g., Ward et al., 2018) and
partly because it includes lifestyle magazines, fashion maga-
zines, and health and fitness magazines, which may better cap-
ture the breadth of women’s magazine exposure. A mean
score was computed across the 12 magazines (Cronbach's
alpha = .73).
To assess consumption of situation comedies, we pro-
vided participants with a list of 24 situation comedy (sitcom)
programs. These programs represented all sitcoms currently
airing on primetime or syndication on major networks (ABC,
CBS, NBC, FOX, TNT, TBS, and CW) in our market.
Participants indicated how often they watched each sitcom
using the following response options, scored 0 to 3: never, a
little/a few episodes, sometimes/some episodes, and a lot/
most or all episodes. A mean was calculated across the 24
programs.
To assess exposure to reality and drama exposure, we pro-
vided participants with a list of 36 popular lifestyle reality
programs and 16 dramas (e.g., Real Housewives, The
Bachelor, How to Get Away with Murder, Shameless) cur-
rently airing on network TV or basic cable networks (e.g.,
MTV, VH1, Bravo; NBC, Fox). These programs were cho-
sen based on online rankings of popular programs (e.g., tv.
com). As with situation comedies, participants reported how
frequently they had ever viewed the 52 different programs
using the following response options scored 0 to 3: a little/a
few episodes, sometimes/some episodes, and a lot/most or all
episodes. A mean across all 36 reality television programs
and 16 dramas was calculated.
To assess Facebook investment, participants answered six
items regarding their use of Facebook and its importance to
their social life. This scale was adapted from the Facebook
Intensity Scale (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007), with
two items modified. Participants responded to the items on a
3-point scale, from disagree to agree. A sample item is “I feel
like my social life would suffer if Facebook were shut down.”
A mean score was computed, with higher scores reflecting
greater Facebook investment. Cronbach’s alpha for the cur-
rent sample was .80, slightly higher than the alpha reported in
a prior study (Cronbach's alpha = .76; Manago et al., 2015).
Self-sexualization. Following the work of Ward et al. (2016),
self-sexualization was measured via three scales to capture

6 SAGE Open
both traditional components of self-objectification, such as
body surveillance, as well as components centered more on
women’s prioritizing and valuing of their sexual appeal. The
first scale included in the sexualization latent variable was
the Surveillance subscale of the Objectified Body Conscious-
ness Scale, which examined the extent to which individuals
engage in regular body monitoring. Respondents indicated
their level of agreement with each of eight items (e.g., “Dur-
ing the day, I think about how I look many times”) using a
6-point scale anchored by strongly disagree at 1 and strongly
agree at 6. A mean score was computed such that higher
scores indicate greater body surveillance. This scale was
originally developed and validated among three samples of
undergraduate women and their middle-aged mothers. Cron-
bach’s alpha for the surveillance subscale among the three
samples was .89, .79, and .76, respectively. Similarly, Cron-
bach’s alpha for the current sample was .77.
The second scale included in the sexualization latent vari-
able was the ESS (Liss et al., 2011), which measures the
extent to which individuals attempt to and enjoy emphasiz-
ing their own sexiness. Participants indicated their agree-
ment with eight items using a 6-point scale (1 = strongly
disagree; 6 = strongly agree). Sample items include “I love
to feel sexy” and “I like showing off my body.” Mean scores
were computed such that higher scores indicate greater
enjoyment of sexualization. The ESS was originally devel-
oped and validated among two predominantly White samples
of undergraduate women. The scale demonstrated strong
construct and discriminant validity. Cronbach’s alpha for the
development and validation samples was .85 and .86, respec-
tively. Cronbach’s alpha for the current sample was .88.
The third scale included in the sexualization latent variable
was the SASW (Gordon & Ward, 2000), which assesses the
extent to which participants base their self-worth on their sex-
ual appeal. Participants were first given the prompt “How
would you feel about yourself if . . .” and were asked to indi-
cate whether they would feel better or worse about themselves
in 23 situations, 13 of which reflected their sexual appeal/
attractiveness. Sample items include the following: “You were
asked to be a model for a calendar featuring college students”
and “A car accident left you with a permanent, two-inch scar
on your face.” Responses were indicated using a 7-point scale
anchored by –3 (“Ugh! I would feel really horrible about
myself”) and +3 (“Wow! I would feel really great about
myself”). Higher scores, based on absolute values, reflect
placing a stronger emphasis on sexual appeal in perceptions of
one’s self-worth. Cronbach’s alpha for the 13 items assessing
sexual appeal self-worth was .81. This level of internal consis-
tency is similar to or higher than in previous studies using this
scale (Cronbach’s alpha = .70, .79, and .81, in Manago et al.,
2015; Ward et al., 2018; Ward et al., 2016, respectively).
Potential mediators. To assess their views of other women as
sex objects, participants completed an extended version of the
Women are Sexual Objects Scale (Ward, 2002), which
included 13 items scored on a 6-point scale from 1 (strongly
disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Sample items include “Women
who wear tight or revealing clothing are asking to be hit on by
men” and “Girls should do whatever they need to (e.g., use
make up, buy attractive clothes, work out) to look good
enough to attract a date/partner.” Items were averaged (Cron-
bach’s alpha = .80) so that higher scores indicated a stronger
endorsement of the belief that women are sex objects.
To assess women’s internalization of the thin ideal, par-
ticipants responded to the nine items of the Internalization-
General subscale of the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward
Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-3; Thompson, van den
Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004). Participants
rated their agreement on a 6-point scale (1 = definitely dis-
agree; 6 = definitely agree) to nine statements including “I
compare my body to the bodies of people who are on TV”
and “I wish I looked like the models in music videos.” Scores
were averaged such that higher scores indicated a greater
internalization of the thin ideal. Cronbach’s alpha for the cur-
rent sample was .93.
To assess women’s feelings of pressure to look like media
ideals, participants completed the seven items from the Pressure
subscale of the SATAQ-3 (Thompson et al., 2004). Participants
rated their agreement on a 6-point scale (1 = definitely disagree;
6 = definitely agree) to eight statements including “I’ve felt
pressure from TV or magazines to diet” and “I’ve felt pressure
from TV and magazines to be thin.” Responses to each item
were averaged (Cronbach’s alpha = .92) such that higher scores
indicated a greater perception of pressure from the media to con-
form to media ideals of beauty. Both subscales from the
SATAQ-3 were developed among a sample of 175 undergradu-
ate women (age range = 17-25 years) and validated among a
sample of 195 undergraduate women (age range = 18-22 years).
Cronbach’s alpha for the first sample was .96 for Internalization-
General and .92 for Pressure. For the second sample, Cronbach’s
alpha was .92 for Internalization-General and .94 for Pressure.
Procedure
Participants were recruited from an introductory psychology
subject pool and received research participation credit in return
for completing the survey. Students completed the survey in
small groups no larger than 10 participants on tablets in an on-
campus research lab. Participants were informed that the study
was interested in examining their media use and beliefs about
social relationships. Other measures were assessed, including
measures related to participants’ sexual agency, gender beliefs,
and mental health, but are not conceptually relevant to the
research questions under examination here. It took approxi-
mately 45 min to complete the full packet of measures.
Results
Descriptive Statistics
Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations, and zero-
order inter-correlations for the key variables in the study.

Grower et al. 7
Taking into consideration the skewness of the media vari-
ables, we conducted Spearman’s correlation test, which is
recommended for data with tailed distributions and outliers
(de Winter, Goslin, & Potter, 2016). The three self-sexualiza-
tion measures (body surveillance, sex appeal self-worth, and
enjoyment of sexualization) were moderately to strongly
correlated, with correlations ranging from .42 to .53. These
moderate-to-strong correlations suggest both conceptual
overlap and conceptual distinction of these constructs in line
with the aforementioned prior research. Concerning the three
mediators and three self-sexualization measures, the stron-
gest correlations were between internalization of the thin
ideal and pressure. A discriminant validity test, which
assesses the extent to which a latent variable is distinct from
other latent variables in the model, showed that there might
be some conceptual overlap between these constructs (i.e.,
the square root of average variance extracted [AVE] in inter-
nalization was equal to its correlation with pressure). This
overlap is likely due to the fact that both are subscales of the
SATAQ-3. In the next step, we checked for vertical collinear-
ity (i.e., collinearity between the mediating variables). We
retrieved tolerance and variance inflation factor (VIF) values
that take into consideration only the effects of these variables
on themselves (Kock & Lynn, 2012). These values did not
exceed 0.2 for tolerance and 4 for VIF, indicating no multi-
collinearity issues between these variables and their indica-
tor items (Kline, 1998).
Testing the Hypothesized Model
The integrative model was tested with structural equation
modeling (AMOS) using the maximum likelihood method.
The model controlled for age and sexual experience by
employing these variables as predictors for all of the
hypothesized endogenous variables. First, multiple imputation
was performed as the bootstrapping method does not allow the
sample to include missing data.1 Overall, 148 respondents
(22.2%) had missing data; 84 of those respondents had only
one missing value that had to be imputed. All variables had
less than 5% missing data. According to skewness and kurtosis
information, all variables, except for magazine exposure, were
normally distributed on a univariate level (i.e., skewness val-
ues did not exceed 2 and kurtosis values did not exceed 7; J.
Cohen, Cohen, West, & Aiken, 2003). However, Mardia’s
coefficient for the data was 36.57 with a critical ratio value of
16.67, indicating that the data were significantly non-normal
on a multivariate level. To resolve this issue, we decided to
perform bootstrapping in AMOS, which is an adequate way to
deal with non-normal data in structural equation modeling
(Nevitt & Hancock, 2001).
First, a measurement model was tested assessing the fit of
the self-sexualization latent variable. The media variables
and mediators (i.e., internalization, perceived pressure, and
objectification of women) were measured with observed
variables (i.e., total scale score). Self-sexualization was mea-
sured as a second-order latent variable comprising the enjoy-
ment of sexualization, body surveillance, and appearance
self-worth. Indicators for the three first-order measures were
first assigned to parcels using the item-to-construct balance
technique (Little et al., 2002). Specifically, a principal com-
ponents analysis was performed for each scale (separately).
SPSS was asked to extract one factor for each scale, and
items were assigned to three parcels based on their factor
loadings. The three highest factor loadings were distributed
across the three parcels followed by the next three highest
factor loadings until all items were assigned to one of the
three parcels. The measurement model showed a good fit of
the data, χ2(24) = 84.244, p < .001, root mean square error
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics and Zero-Order Correlations.
1234567891011
1. Magazines 1 .30** .17** .21** .11** .17** .22** .08* .18** .16** .16**
2. Reality television 1 .24** .27** .11** .19** .21** .10** .23** .25** .18**
3. Sitcoms 1 .30** –.01 .18** .16** –.13** .09* .11** .03
4. Dramas 1 .06 .11** .15** .06 .22** .21** .10**
5. Facebook investment 1 .11** .12** .03 .19** .17** .26**
6. Perceived pressure 1 .70** .05 .22** .41** .29**
7. Internalization of
appearance ideals
1 .18** .35** .55** .41**
8. Objectification of women 1 .35** .23** .22**
9. Enjoyment of sexualization 1 .42** .51**
10. Body surveillance 1 .53**
11. Appearance self-worth 1
Range 0-12 0-3 0-3 0-3 0-3 1-5 1-5 1-6 1-6 1-6 1-7
M (SD) for entire sample 0.55
(0.81)
0.64
(0.46)
0.75
(0.41)
0.79
(0.44)
1.15
(0.50)
3.44
(0.99)
3.36
(0.93)
2.86
(0.68)
3.99
(0.88)
4.23
(0.76)
1.67
(0.47)
*p < .05. **p < .01.

8 SAGE Open
of approximation (RMSEA) = .062, comparative fit index
(CFI) = .982.
Second, the hypothesized structural model was tested and
showed an adequate fit of the data (Figure 1). The model
yielded a chi-square value of 363.633 with 110 degrees of
freedom, p < .001, RMSEA = .059, CFI = .946, and χ2/df
= 3.306. The results indicated that 7.7% of the variance of
internalization of appearance ideals, 7.1% of the variance of
pressure to conform to media ideals, and 4.3% of the view of
women as sex objects were explained by media exposure.
Moreover, 58.5% of the variance of self-sexualization could
be explained by media exposure, internalization of appear-
ance ideals, pressure, and objectification of women.
Magazine exposure was only marginally significantly
related to the objectification of women, but was significantly
related to pressure, and internalization of appearance ideals.
Both sitcom exposure and reality TV exposure were signifi-
cantly related to the view of women as sex objects, pressure to
conform to media ideals, and thin-ideal internalization.
Interestingly, drama program exposure was unrelated to all
three proposed mediators. Finally, Facebook investment was
significantly associated with both perceived pressure to con-
form to media ideals and with thin-ideal internalization, but
unrelated to the view of women as sex objects.
User-defined estimands were created to examine the indi-
rect effects. The relative contribution of each mediator (i.e.,
internalization, perceived pressure, and objectification of
women) to the indirect relation between media exposure and
self-sexualization is presented in Table 2. Both magazine
exposure and Facebook investment had a significant indirect
effect on self-sexualization through internalization of appear-
ance ideals, whereas reality television use had a significant
indirect effect on self-sexualization through both internaliza-
tion of appearance ideals and through cultivating the view of
women as sex objects. These results indicate that the stron-
gest mediation was through internalization.
Alternative model. To better understand the role of mediators in
the relation between media exposure and self-sexualization,
we also tested a model that did not include the three mediators
(see Figure 2). This model also showed an adequate fit,
χ2 (80) = 215.03, p < .001, RMSEA = .051, CFI = .964,
χ2/df = 2.689; subsequently, we performed a nested model
comparison test. An unconstrained model (i.e., a model in
which the relation between the media variables and self-
sexualization was mediated by internalization, perceived pres-
sure, and objectification of women) was compared with a con-
strained model (i.e., a model in which the paths between the
media variables, the mediators, and self-sexualization were set
to zero and thus not estimated). This chi-square difference test
showed that the model involving the mediators had a signifi-
cantly better fit (Δχ2 = 326.795, p < .001, df = 18).
Discussion
The current study investigated associations between diverse
forms of media and women’s tendency to self-sexualize. We
extended prior research by including an array of media
Figure 1. Structural equation model (N = 663).
Note. — Significant path (*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001); - - - Insignificant path (^p = .049). For clarity, error terms, covariances, and measurements are
not shown. Values reflect standardized coefficients.

Grower et al. 9
measures (three genres of television, magazines, and social
media), while also including broader measures of self-sexual-
ization. The current study also examined the role of three
potential mediating mechanisms: internalization of the thin
ideal, perceived sociocultural pressure to conform to the thin
ideal, and the view of women as sex objects. Results demon-
strate that women who reported more engagement with maga-
zines and investment in Facebook also reported higher
internalization of the thin ideal and greater perceived pressure
to conform to the thin ideal. Women who report greater expo-
sure to reality television also reported higher internalization of
the thin ideal, higher perceived pressure to conform to the thin
ideal, and higher endorsement of the view of women as sex
objects compared with women who reported lower levels of
reality television exposure. Greater sitcom exposure was also
related to greater internalization of the thin ideal and pressure
to conform to the thin ideal, but was related to lower endorse-
ment of the view of women as sex objects. Dramas were not
associated with any of the mediators examined. Of these var-
ied media sources, magazines and Facebook investment were
indirectly related to self-sexualization through internalization
of the thin ideal, whereas reality television was indirectly
related to self-sexualization through internalization of the thin
ideal and the view of women as sex objects. In turn, the view
of women as sex objects significantly related to self-sexualiza-
tion, as did internalization of appearance ideals; perceived
pressure did not.
Our findings contribute to the existing body of research in
several meaningful ways. First, prior studies examining links
between media use and women’s tendency to self-sexualize
have generally examined traditional or social media sepa-
rately and have not considered how women may be uniquely
invested with social media. Second, past research has often
examined self-objectification without consideration of other
components of women’s bodily experiences in the world. By
focusing on women’s tendency to self-sexualize more broadly
rather than their tendency to self-objectify alone, we advance
the understanding of how sexualized depictions of women in
the media are associated with women’s self-reported view of
their own bodies and sense of self. Third, by including more
Table 2. Test of Mediation for Specific Indirect Effects.
βp-value SE 95% CI %
Facebook investment > self-sexualization
Total effect .258 .003 .040 [.178, .332]
Direct effect .208 .002 .034 [.143, .275]
Indirect effect .050* .023 .022 [.006, .098]
Pressure .002 .656 .006 [–.010, .018] 3.39
Internalization .055* .012 .022 [.012, .103] 93.22
Objectification of women .002 .855 .012 [–.021, .026] 3.39
Reality > self-sexualization
Total effect .191 .002 .044 [.102, .275]
Direct effect .099 .014 .038 [.022, .170]
Indirect effect .092** .002 .025 [.040, .141]
Pressure .003 .657 .008 [–.012, .022] 2.54
Internalization .075** .009 .028 [.020, .134] 63.56
Objectification of women .041** .003 .015 [.014, .074] 34.74
Magazines > self-sexualization
Total effect .102 .015 .042 [.022, .187]
Direct effect .019 .602 .037 [–.047, .092]
Indirect effect .084** .002 .024 [.037, .133]
Pressure .001 .607 .003 [–.005, .010] 1.64
Internalization .046*** .001 .015 [.020, .079] 75.41
Objectification of women .014* .032 .008 [.002, .033] 22.95
Sitcoms > self-sexualization
Total effect .010 .789 .043 [–.247, .097]
Direct effect .000 .969 .038 [–.071, .072]
Indirect effect .010 .671 .026 [–.040, .061]
Drama > self-sexualization
Total effect .107 .010 .045 [.025, .204]
Direct effect .073 .044 .038 [.001, .153]
Indirect effect .033 .152 .025 [–.012, .085]
Note. CI = confidence interval.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

10 SAGE Open
diverse measures of women’s everyday media use and a
broader assessment of self-sexualization, which includes both
behavioral and cognitive components, we may more accu-
rately capture how media use may contribute to women’s
experiences of their bodies. Finally, the inclusion of several
potential mediators in our model contributes to a more
nuanced understanding of the cognitive processes that may
undergird women’s tendencies to self-sexualize. Although
examining direct links between media exposure and self-
objectification or self-sexualization has merit, examining
potential mediators provides insight into the mechanisms
through which exposure to sexualized bodies in the media
may influence women’s view of their own bodies.
In our results, heavier media consumption most consis-
tently predicted thin-ideal internalization and perceived
sociocultural pressure, as all media measures except for expo-
sure to television dramas significantly predicted these media-
tors. In contrast, only sitcoms and reality television cultivated
a more general view of women as sex objects. It may be that
the valuing of thin bodies and pressure to conform to those
ideals are nearly omnipresent in media, but that viewers are
more susceptible to the specific view that women are sex
objects when the women being presented as sex objects are
perceived to be more “real,” as in reality television, but are
less susceptible to the view of women as sex objects when
this objectification occurs in the context of comedy.
It is surprising that dramas did not emerge as a signifi-
cant predictor of any of the proposed mediators. One poten-
tial explanation for these null findings is that some dramas
may actually contain less sexually objectifying content than
other TV genres, or that consumption of certain programs
(e.g., Law & Order: SVU) may actually cultivate women’s
sense of empowerment (Hust, Marett, Lei, Ren, & Ran,
2015; Kim et al., 2007). For example, women in Hust
et al.’s (2015) study who frequently watched Law & Order:
SVU reported increased intentions to request consent in
their sexual encounters and endorsed rape myths less
strongly than those who reported less frequent viewing of
Law & Order: SVU. This work also highlights another
potential explanation of these null results, which is that dif-
ferent programs in the same genre (Law & Order: SVU ver-
sus NCIS) may have opposing effects on participants’
beliefs. Some programs may serve to empower women and
to diminish their view of themselves as sexual objects,
whereas other programs may serve to promote and rein-
force these messages.
Concerning indirect effects, both magazines and Facebook
investment acted indirectly on women’s tendency to self-
sexualize through internalization of the thin ideal, whereas
reality television operated through internalization of the thin
ideal and the view of women as sex objects to influence
women’s tendency to self-sexualize. The associations
between different types of media use and internalization of
the thin ideal are consistent with Vandenbosch and
Eggermont’s (2012) three-step process of self-objectifica-
tion. There were no indirect associations between sitcoms or
dramas and self-sexualization through any of the mediators,
which is also similar to Vandenbosch and Eggermont’s
Figure 2. Structural equation model (N = 663) for the associations between media use (i.e., Facebook investment, reality television,
dramas, sitcoms, and magazines) and self-sexualization.
Note. — Only significant paths are shown (*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001). Values reflect standardized coefficients.

Grower et al. 11
(2012) model, which found no link between primetime tele-
vision and internalization of the thin ideal. Although these
results are not as consistent as expected, they do support the
need for future work to clarify the relation of these mediators
in women’s self-sexualization tendencies, as well as other
potential mediators.
Limitations, Future Directions, and Conclusions
Although the current study had several strengths, it also had
several limitations. The sample in the current study was rela-
tively homogeneous, comprising primarily White young
adult women from educated backgrounds. In addition, the
correlational nature of this work means we are unable to
make causal claims about the associations observed in
our model; it may be that having a strong tendency to self-
sexualize leads women to select particular media to consume
that validate these tendencies. Finally, although we included
assessments of both traditional and social media, the media
assessed in this study may not accurately represent women’s
full media diets. In the time since data collection was com-
pleted, several other social media platforms have risen in
popularity. In addition, these new social media platforms
may have an even greater influence on women’s tendency to
self-objectify or to self-sexualize, as they are image- rather
than text-based (e.g., Instagram). Though content analyses
do support that even more text-based SNS contain objecti-
fied content (e.g., through profile pictures), image-based
platforms are environments potentially rife with sexualized
self-representations.
Future studies should address these limitations by testing
this mediated model in a more diverse sample of women
(with regard to age and racial composition), by using longi-
tudinal data to verify the directionality of the proposed
model, and by including even more diverse media measures
(e.g., exposure to music genres, movies, or music videos;
other forms of social media). In addition, future work could
also expand on the current model by examining other media-
tors and moderators. For example, future work could exam-
ine the role of different gender ideologies or endorsement of
sexual scripts as potential mediators in this media–body
association. Although common in multivariate analyses (e.g.,
Hair, Black, Babin, & Anderson, 2009; Kock & Lynn, 2012),
the Internalization and Pressure scales—both derived from
the SATAQ 3—were highly correlated but not collinear.
High correlations between subscales could suggest that par-
ticipants may not actually differentiate between constructs
that researchers theoretically consider to be distinct (Hyde,
1998) and should, therefore, be handled cautiously in future
studies. In the realm of moderators, perceived realism, iden-
tification with characters in the media, and motives for view-
ing, has each been implicated in prior work examining media
effects (e.g., Gordon, 2008; Ward & Carlson, 2013). Women
who perceive television content as being highly realistic,
who identify strongly with characters in the media, or who
use media to learn about how the world operates may be par-
ticularly prone to self-sexualize themselves, as they view
media as a more appropriate model on which to base their
own behaviors.
The results of the current study have several implications
for the lives of women. These results suggest that chronic
exposure to various types of media may influence women’s
beliefs both about themselves (i.e., internalization of the thin
ideal and perceived pressure to conform to this ideal) and
about other women (i.e., the view of other women as sex
objects). Taken together, these findings highlight how expo-
sure to sexualized portrayals of women in the media is linked
with the ways in which women act to feel worthy. The reduc-
tion in women’s value to aspects of the self that are external,
to the exclusion of other aspects of the self, by definition
precludes women the possibility of navigating the social
world as agents. The current study builds our understanding
of the cognitive processes underlying media’s associations
with women’s self-sexualization tendencies by identifying
several potential mechanisms. Accordingly, these findings
may prove useful for developing media literacy programs or
other interventions targeting these mechanisms, intervening
both prior to and in the process of women’s problematic cog-
nitions before they manifest in the form of reduction via
self-sexualization.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Note
1. In multiple imputation, each missing value is replaced by a
simulated value and m plausible alternative versions of the
complete dataset are generated. In our study, nine new datasets
were generated and we tested our hypothesized model with
each dataset. These analyses did not significantly differ and
the model that is reported in the article was analyzed with the
first dataset that was obtained from the MI method.
ORCID iD
Petal Grower https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0434-7645
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Author Biographies
Petal Grower is a developmental psychology PhD candidate at the
University of Michigan. Her research focuses on the impact of self-
objectification and self-sexualization on women’s sexual agency.
She is also interested in the conceptualization and measurement of
these constructs.
L. Monique Ward is a professor of Psychology at the University of
Michigan. Her research examines media contributions to gender
and sexual socialization, with particular emphasis on the impact of
sexually objectifying media content.
Jolien Trekels is a post-doctoral researcher at the School for Mass
Communication at the KU Leuven. Her research interests include
media use during adolescence and its influence on perceptions and
behaviors, with a particular focus on body image.