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Effects of objectifying gaze on female cognitive performance: The role of flow experience and internalization of beauty ideals
Author(s) -
Guizzo Francesca,
Cadinu Mara
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/bjso.12170
Subject(s) - psychology , objectification , gaze , beauty , mediation , internalization , social psychology , cognition , moderated mediation , attractiveness , human physical appearance , developmental psychology , aesthetics , philosophy , genetics , epistemology , neuroscience , biology , political science , psychoanalysis , law , cell
Although previous research has demonstrated that objectification impairs female cognitive performance, no research to date has investigated the mechanisms underlying such decrement. Therefore, we tested the role of flow experience as one mechanism leading to performance decrement under sexual objectification. Gaze gender was manipulated by having male versus female experimenters take body pictures of female participants ( N = 107) who then performed a Sustained Attention to Response Task. As predicted, a moderated mediation model showed that under male versus female gaze, higher internalization of beauty ideals was associated with lower flow, which in turn decreased performance. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to objectification theory and strategies to prevent sexually objectifying experiences.