Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Unattainable Beauty: An Analysis Of The Role Of Body Shame And Self-Objectification In Hopelessness Depression Among College-Age Women, Meredith A. Evans

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Despite substantial evidence that women suffer from depression at twice the rate of men, the etiology for this difference remains unclear. Prior to puberty, the difference in depression is negligible; however, when adolescence begins, a precipitous rise in female depression occurs that persists across the lifespan. While no definitive biological change has been linked to this phenomenon, objectification theory (Frederickson & Roberts, 1997) can be used to gain insight into the social influences at play during that transitional period. This study of 269 undergraduate women from a northeastern university used structural equation modeling to propose a path leading from self-objectification …