The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

516 Chapter 13

women, which lead women to continually

monitor their bodies and evaluate themselves

based on their appearance (Fredrickson &

Roberts, 1997). Body objectification has been

associated with depression among adolescent

females and males but the relation is stronger

in females (Grabe, Hyde, & Lindberg, 2007).

In addition, the sex difference in body objec-

tification seems to precede the sex difference

in depression suggesting that body objectifi-

cation may play a causal role in the increase

in depression among girls.

The negative effects of body objectifica-

tion have been demonstrated in experimental

research. For example, in one study, college

students were asked to unscramble a series of

words to form sentences under one of three

conditions (Roberts & Gettman, 2004). In

one condition, some of the words reflected

body competence (e.g., fitness, health, stam-

ina); in a second condition, some of the words

reflected body objectification (e.g., attrac-

tive, shapely, sexy); and in the last condition,

the words were neutral (e.g., honesty, mu-

sic, interesting). As shown in Figure 13.10,

associated with depression is through their im-

pact on adolescents’ body image.

Body Image

Both differential exposure and differential

vulnerability are relevant to the link between

gender, body image, and depression. Ado-

lescent and college-age females have a more

negative body image than males (Ambwani &

Strauss, 2007; Ata, Ludden, & Lally, 2007),

and a negative body image predicts the on-

set of depression in females but not in males

(Bearman & Stice, 2008). The nature of body

concerns during adolescence differs for females

and males. Females are concerned with losing

weight, and males are concerned with gaining

weight—especially in their upper body.

Girls not only are more dissatisfied

with their bodies than boys, but also have

a more distorted body image compared to

boys. One study showed that boys were ac-

curate in identifying the size of the male fig-

ure desired by girls, whereas girls identified a

thinner female figure than what was actually

desired by boys (Safir, Flaisher-Kellner, &

Rosenmann, 2005).

Body image is not only influenced by sex

but also by race and ethnicity. A meta-analysis

of ethnic differences in body image revealed

that White females are more dissatisfied with

their bodies than females from other ethnic

groups (d=+.29; Grabe & Hyde, 2006). How-

ever, the difference in body image depended

upon which ethnic group was the subject of

comparison. White and Hispanic women

are more dissatisfied with their bodies than

African American women, with Asian women

falling in between. The sex difference in body

dissatisfaction is smaller in Chinese than

American children (Marsh et al., 2007).

It is not only body image butbody ob-

jectificationthat is related to depression.

Objectification theory states that there are so-

cial and cultural forces that sexually objectify

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

Body

Objectification

Body

Competence

Control

Shame

Females

Males

FIGURE 13.10 Women’s feelings of shame

increased relative to those of men in response to

the body objectification prime compared to the

body competence prime.

Source: Adapted from Roberts and Gettman (2004).

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