1,720,976 research outputs found
Media-induced sexual harassment: the routes from sexually objectifying media to sexual harassment.
Full text linkMedia that sexually objectify women by portraying them in ways that emphasize physical beauty and sexual readiness as well as reduce them to decorative and sexual objects have been traditionally identified by scholars as a powerful cultural risk factor encouraging sexual harassment and sexual violence. In the present article we review the existing empirical evidence linking sexually objectifying media and sexual harassment of women to the overarching and integrative Media-Induced Sexual Harassment framework. This framework offers a coherent scheme for explaining the effects of sexually objectifying media on three target groups directly involved in sexual harassment—perpetrators, victims, and bystanders—and it postulates three cognitive and emotional mechanisms through which sexually objectifying media lead to sexual harassment: dehumanization, disruption of emphatic resonance, and a shift in gender norms. The evidence reviewed on the basis of the Media-Induced Sexual Harassment framework shows that sexually objectifying media converge in normalizing harassing behaviors and can be a causal risk factor for increasing engagement in sexual harassment, heightening victims’ acceptance of sexual harassment and discouraging bystander intervention. We discuss implications of these arguments for effectively preventing negative effects of exposure to sexually objectifying media and for education programs aimed at critical media-consumption
Women, not objects: testing a sensitizing web campaign against female sexual objectification to temper sexual harassment and hostile sexism
No full textWe investigated the novel hypothesis that a sensitizing web campaign against media sexual objectification would lead to lower male gender-harassing conduct (i.e., number of sexist jokes sent to a chat partner), lower sexual coercion intention (via the Likelihood to Sexually Harass scale), and lower hostile sexism (via the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory). Across two experiments (Ns = 157; 159), male participants were exposed to one of three videos: (a) a web campaign against female objectification (sensitizing), (b) a nature documentary (control), or (c) a video in which women are portrayed as sexual objects (sexually objectifying). Study 1 and Study 2 together demonstrated that men exposed to the sensitizing video showed lower gender-harassing behavior, lower hostile sexism, and lower sexual coercion intention than participants in the other two conditions altogether. Moreover, the sexually objectifying vs. control video condition led to higher gender-harassing behavior. Mediation analyses demonstrated that the sensitizing video led to lower hostile sexism, which in turn was associated with both lower gender-harassing behavior and lower sexual coercion intentions. The sensitizing video led to unexpectedly higher benevolent sexism; however, benevolent sexism was not associated with higher sexual harassment. We conclude by discussing the importance and practical implications of the results
Media representation matters: The effects of exposure to counter-stereotypical gay male characters on heterosexual men’s expressions of discrimination
No full textPresence of gay men in mainstream media may have a positive impact on viewers’ attitude change. However, gay male characters are often stereotypically portrayed as feminine, and no research has explored yet audiences’ reactions to counter-stereotypical gay characters. Heterosexual Italian men (N = 158) were exposed to a clip portraying (i) a stereotypical feminine gay male character, (ii) a counter-stereotypical masculine gay male character, or (iii) a nature documentary. Compared to the other conditions, exposure to the counter-stereotypical gay character increased discrimination toward gay men, in the form of anti-gay jokes, the higher the level of participants’ prejudice against gay men. Results further demonstrated that this effect was explained by reduced perceived stereotypicality of the character. Findings are in line with the social identity theory prediction that when gay men (out-group) are perceived as too similar, and potentially threaten the group identity, heterosexual men would attempt to restore in-group distinctiveness
From Sexualized Media Consumption to Salary Negotiation: The Relation Between Chronic Self-Objectification Processes and Women's Negotiation Intentions
Full text linkDespite the advancement in women's conditions in the past fifty years, women are still the targets of forms of oppression that span from sexual objectification to gender economic inequality, which, among other factors, is linked to challenges that women may face with wage negotiation. Bridging these two research areas, in the present correlational study (N = 552), we took the female target perspective and investigated whether everyday sexualized media consumption may be indirectly linked with Italian women's negotiation intentions in a working scenario (i.e. salary request, negotiation probability, salary raise negotiation). We hypothesized that this association would be mediated by internalization of mainstream beauty ideals, chronic self-objectification, and subsequent lower self-attribution of the fundamental social dimensions of competence, agency, and morality. Path analyses supported the indirect path model on all the negotiation behaviors via self-attribution of competence; a significant indirect path via self-attribution of morality was also found on women's negotiation probability. Implications for gender economic inequality as well as possible interventions are discussed
Instagram Sexualization: When posts make you feel dissatisfied and wanting to change your body
Full text linkInstagram is a visually centered social media that involves the presence of sexualized imagery posted by users. Such Instagram sexualization may have a negative impact on women's body image. The present study examined whether exposure to Instagram sexualization, namely posts of sexualized women along with appearance-related comments, affected women's body satisfaction and cosmetic surgery intentions. In doing so, it also considered the moderating role of Instagram Addiction Proclivity (IAP). Young Italian female participants (N = 247) were randomly exposed to one of four video conditions resulting from the combination of either sexualized or non-sexualized women's pictures on Instagram, paired with appearance or neutral comments. In the sexualized picture condition participants’ body dissatisfaction increased compared to pre-exposure levels and to the non-sexualized picture condition. The type of comments did not affect participants’ body satisfaction. Moreover, IAP predicted cosmetic surgery intentions and moderated their reactions to Instagram content. Indeed, the higher the IAP, the higher the cosmetic surgery intentions of participants viewing sexualized pictures with neutral comments and non-sexualized pictures with body appearance comments. These findings suggest that female Instagram users should be aware of the negative impacts of viewing sexualized imagery as well as the role that IAP may play
Does Sex Really Sell? Paradoxical Effects of Sexualization in Advertising on Product Attractiveness and Purchase Intentions
Full text linkTo test the “sex sells” assumption, we examined how Italian men and women react to sexualized advertising. Women showed lower product attractiveness and purchase intentions toward products presented with sexualized female models than with neutral ads, whereas men were unaffected by ads’ sexualization (Study 1, n = 251). Study 2 (n = 197) replicated the overall results. Study 3 (n = 198) tested hostile sexism as a moderator as well as negative emotions as a mediator of consumers’ responses. Especially men with higher hostile sexism showed more purchase intentions after viewing female sexualized ads than neutral ads. Moreover, women’s lower consumer responses toward sexualized female ads were due to higher negative emotions. Study 4 (n = 207) included ads with both female and male models, replicating responses to female sexualization and showing that both women and men had lower product attractiveness and purchase intentions toward male sexualized ads than neutral ads. Replicating and extending Study 3’s results, women’s negative emotions was the mediator. The present study has practical implications for marketers because it suggests that “sex does not sell.” In addition, considering both the psychological damage and practical inefficacy of sexualized ads, our findings have important implications for public policy
Media representation matters: The effects of exposure to counter-stereotypical gay male characters on heterosexual men’s expressions of discrimination
No full textPresence of gay men in mainstream media may have a positive impact on viewers' attitude change. However, gay male characters are often stereotypically portrayed as feminine, and no research has yet explored audiences' reactions to counter-stereotypical gay characters. Heterosexual Italian men (N = 158) were exposed to a clip portraying (i) a stereotypical feminine gay male character, (ii) a counter-stereotypical masculine gay male character, or (iii) a nature documentary. Compared to the other conditions, exposure to the counter-stereotypical gay character increased discrimination toward gay men, in the form of anti-gay jokes, the higher the level of participants' prejudice against gay men. Results further demonstrated that this effect was explained by reduced perceived stereotypicality of the character. Findings are in line with the social identity theory prediction that when gay men (outgroup) are perceived as too similar, and potentially threaten the group identity, heterosexual men would attempt to restore ingroup distinctiveness
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
- …
