Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Efficacy Of A Dissonance-Based Intervention For Self-Objectification: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Jessie Erin Menzel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-objectification is the process by which women take on a third-person perspective in evaluating their physical appearance and sexual attributes. Objectification theory states that self-objectification may lead to negative mental health outcomes in women; a growing body of cross-sectional and experimental research supports the connection between self-objectification and the experience of shame, disordered eating, depression, and sexual dysfunction. This study sought to evaluate an intervention designed to reduce self-objectification behaviors and beliefs in order to prevent the development of disordered eating, depression, and sexual dysfunction. An efficacious prevention program using cognitive dissonance induction was adapted to target self-objectification. The efficacy …