Sexual Consumer Culture: explanation of shopping and self-sexualizing behavior in the light of sexual objectification
Year: 2017
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: A growing body of research has investigated the psychological consequences, such as body dissatisfaction, of sexual objectification the female body in the US, England, and Australia.The current thesis attempts to explain these consequences in Iranian women living under Islamic codes in the Middle East.Combining objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) and the social psychological approach on identity and shopping as identity-seeking behavior (Helga Dittmar), the present thesis tried to go beyond existing research, especially through is major focus on self-sexualizing behavior.For each substudy, new questionnaire-based data were collected and the data have been analysed by testing theoretical models with path analysis.Study 1 focused on the explanation of materialism and conspicuous consumption based on "interpersonal sexual objectification in everyday life, while body surveillance and body shame play mediating roles between them.Whereas previous research highlight the strong relationship between materialism and conspicuous consumption, study 1 proposed a novel theoretical model within objectification theory to explain this relationship.Data for the study were collected by questionnaires from Iranian women (N=362).The results show that the interpersonal sexual objectification scale, body surveillance, body shame and conspicuous consumption fully mediated the relationship between interpersonal sexual objectification nd materialism.Study 2 was comprised two phases based on internet and paper questionnaire in Iranian women (N1=381, N2=517).and tried to explain compulsive buying (or shopping) as the final outcome of objectification.The study focused on the psychological processes between media consumption and compulsive buying.The findings indicated that self-esteem and self-sexualizing behavior play mediating roles between these constructs.Media consumption, body surveillance and body shame had negative effects on self-esteem and, in turn, positively affected self-sexualizing behavior.In the final step, body surveillance, body shame and self-sexualizing behavior positively predicted compulsive buying.Study 3 attempted to explain sexual satisfaction within objectification theory.The data were collected by questionnaire from Iranian women (N=381).The results revealed that while most of other variables have negative effects on sexual satisfaction, self-sexualizing behavior has a positive effect on it.Also, media consumption, body surveillance and body shame positively predicted the tendencies toward self-sexualizing behavior.
Author: Meysam Haddai Barzoki
Language: English
Subfield: Gender Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3170197685