Worth the Weight: The Objectification of Overweight Versus Thin Targets

Abstract

Although the negative ramifications of others objectifying the female body are well established, little research has examined whether certain portrayals of women are more susceptible to being objectified. The present study sought to examine the effect of two target characteristics-body size and clothing style-on objectification. One hundred and ninety-one Australian undergraduate participants (95 female; Mage = 19.35 years) viewed either an image of an overweight woman or a thin woman, who was either dressed in plain clothes or lingerie. Participants then completed three tasks measuring their objectification of the woman to include attributions of mind, attributions of moral status, and a do..