Objectives: The study aimed to extend tests of objectification theory into the realm of depression. The theory's applicability to men was also investigated.
Design: A cross-sectional study.
Method: A sample of 115 men and 171 women completed questionnaire measures of self-objectification, depressed mood, disordered eating, as well as the proposed mediating variables of body shame, appearance anxiety, flow and awareness of internal states.
Results: For women, it was found that depressed mood and disordered eating were both predicted by self-objectification and its corollary of habitual self-surveillance. Path analysis gave strong support to the mediational relationships of the theoretical model. With one major exception (the role of self-objectification), the pattern of relationships was similar for men.
Conclusion: Objectification theory provides a useful framework for identifying predictors of depressed mood.
Copyright 2004 The British Psychological Society