According to objectification theory, western culture is saturated with dominant views of heterosexuality as well as the overt sexualization of the female body. As such, women are acculturated to internalize sexually objectifying experiences leading to psychosocial distress in the form of shame, anxiety, a lack of body responsiveness, and an inability to experience peak motivational states. Evidence suggests self-objectification can increase the risk for various mental and behavioral health problems that differentially affect women, namely substance use to appear sexually attractive or to cope with an objectified body consciousness. To test this theory, 348 college women from one southeastern university were surveyed using five previously validated scales. Structural equation modeling was used to explore pathways between latent constructs. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated the measurement model fit the data well after omission of five items. Results from the path analysis provided evidence in support of the first two hypotheses: a) the experience of being sexually objectified leads to the increased use of alcohol among college women in this sample and b) the internalization of that sexual objectification leads to the increased use of alcohol. Contrary to the third and fourth hypotheses, however, c) self-objectification did not mediate the relationship between sexual objectification and alcohol use and d) neither feelings of shame nor anxiety, a lack of body responsiveness, nor the inability to engage in peak motivational states mediated the relationship between self-objectification and alcohol use. / A Dissertation submitted to the College of Social Work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2015. / June 29, 2015. / Self-Objectification, Sexual Objectification, Substance Use, Women / Includes bibliographical references. / Stephen Tripodi, Professor Directing Dissertation; David Gussak, University Representative; Nicholas F. Mazza, Committee Member; Dina Wilke, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253219 |
| Contributors | Clem, Jamie M. (authoraut), Tripodi, Stephen J. (professor directing dissertation), Gussak, David (university representative), Mazza, Nicholas (committee member), Wilke, Dina J. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Social Work (degree granting college), College of Social Work (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (133 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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