Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Level Up: Examining The Effects Of Sexualized Video Game Characters, Sarah D. Lethbridge Apr 2022

Level Up: Examining The Effects Of Sexualized Video Game Characters, Sarah D. Lethbridge

Selected Honors Theses

Characters in video games, especially female characters, are often designed or depicted to be sexually attractive. These characters are sexualized by exaggerated body proportions, revealing clothing, and behavior. There are a variety of methods by which players could be impacted by these sexualized characters, including the mere exposure effect, Proteus effect, and avatar identification. The increase of video game usage and sales in recent years, specifically among the COVID-19 pandemic, brings a greater need to understand the effects of these video games. Little research currently exists on the topic, and often provides conflicting data. The current study enlisted volunteers to …


Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beer Holder: An Initial Investigation Of The Effects Of Alcohol, Attractiveness, Warmth, And Competence On The Objectifying Gaze In Men, Abigail R. Riemer, Michelle Haikalis, Molly R. Franz, Michael Dodd, David Dilillo, Sarah Gervais Jan 2018

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beer Holder: An Initial Investigation Of The Effects Of Alcohol, Attractiveness, Warmth, And Competence On The Objectifying Gaze In Men, Abigail R. Riemer, Michelle Haikalis, Molly R. Franz, Michael Dodd, David Dilillo, Sarah Gervais

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Despite literature revealing the adverse consequences of objectifying gazes for women, little work has empirically examined origins of objectifying gazes by perceivers. Integrating alcohol myopia and objectification theories, we examined the effects of alcohol as well as perceived female attractiveness, warmth, and competence on objectifying gazes. Specifically, male undergraduates (n = 49) from a large U.S. Midwestern university were administered either an alcoholic or placebo beverage. After consumption, participants were asked to focus on the appearance or personality (counterbalanced) of pictured women who were previously rated as high, average, or low in attractiveness, warmth, and competence. Replicating previous work, appearance …


From Sex Objects To Human Beings: Masking Sexual Body Parts And Humanization As Moderators To Women’S Objectification, Philippe Bernard, Sarah Gervais, Jill Allen, Alice Delmée, Olivier Klein Jan 2015

From Sex Objects To Human Beings: Masking Sexual Body Parts And Humanization As Moderators To Women’S Objectification, Philippe Bernard, Sarah Gervais, Jill Allen, Alice Delmée, Olivier Klein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Recent studies have shown that sexualized female bodies are objectified at a cognitive level. Research using the body-inversion recognition task, a robust indicator of configural (vs. analytic processing) within cognitive psychology, shows that for sexualized female bodies, people recognize upright and inverted bodies similarly rather than recognizing upright bodies better than inverted bodies (i.e., an inversion effect). This finding suggests that sexualized female bodies, like objects, are recognized analytically (rather than configurally). Nonetheless, it remains unclear when and why sexualized female bodies are objectified at a basic cognitive level. Grounded in objectification theory, the present experiments examine moderating factors that …