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Sex is power belief and women’s mental health: The mediating roles of self‐objectification and sexual subjectivity

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Sex is power belief (SIPB) positively relates to self‐objectification. This research aims at expanding this finding. We propose that SIPB involves an instrumental view of one’s own body (i.e., self‐objectification) that leads women to experience the negative consequences classically associated with self‐objectification. We further suggest that SIPB positively relates to sexual subjectivity—multidimensional sexual self‐perceptions and positive sexual experiences—and that such relation counterbalances some of the negative effects of SIPB. We examine the effect of SIPB on women’s negative eating attitudes and sexual satisfaction, and test the mediating roles of self‐objectification and sexual subjectivity in three studies (N1 = 121, N2 = 296, N3 = 320). Results supported our predictions that beliefs in one’s sexual power lead both to negative (via self‐objectification) and positive (via sexual subjectivity) consequences for women’s mental health. The discussion focuses on the potential consequences of SIPB at both individual and collective levels.

Source: European Journal of Social Psychology

DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2643

Authors: Matthias De Wilde, Annalisa Casini, Robin Wollast, Stéphanie Demoulin

Institutions: UCLouvain, Université Libre de Bruxelles

Language: English

Topic: Eating Disorders and Behaviors

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Gender equality

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2984901323

FWCI: 3.811

Cites: 98

Cited by: 31

Related to: 10