Cultural tightness is linked to higher self-objectification in women (but not men): multi-method evidence

Abstract

Self-objectification, defined as an excessive focus on one’s physical appearance over non-observable qualities, has attracted considerable attention from feminist scholars. In the current research, we hypothesized that cultural tightness (i.e., strong social norms and severe sanctions against norm-deviant behavior) predicts and increases self-objectification among women. This hypothesis was confirmed across four studies via a mixed-method approach, including archival and ecological data (Study 1), a large-scale survey (Study 2, N = 4,083), and two controlled experiments (Studies 3a and 3b, N = 858). Specifically, we found higher self-objectification among women living in China in provinces with tighter cultures as reflected by the search queries for cosmetic surgery terms online (Study 1), Chinese female college students who perceived tighter culture in daily life (Study 2), and both US Americans (Study 3a) and Chinese female participants (Study 3b) who were temporarily induced to support cultural tightness (vs. cultural looseness). Across the studies, the effect of cultural tightness on self-objectification was observed among women, but this effect was reduced (Study 2) or even absent (Studies 3a and 3b) among men. Collectively, these findings establish a relationship between cultural tightness and women’s tendency to self-objectify, and advance understanding of the cultural roots of self-objectification and potential targets for intervention.

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