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High Heels, Low Grades: Internalized Sexualization and Academic Orientation Among Adolescent Girls
Author(s) -
McKenney Sarah J.,
Bigler Rebecca S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12179
Subject(s) - sexualization , psychology , developmental psychology , internalization , adolescent development , test (biology) , human sexuality , social psychology , gender studies , medicine , sociology , paleontology , receptor , biology
Messages that sexually objectify girls and women are common in popular culture. In two studies, we tested the hypothesis that internalization of the notion that women should be sexually attractive to men is associated with decreased academic success and motivation among early adolescent (10‐ to 15‐year‐old) girls. In Study 1, girls ( n = 91) who scored higher on a measure of internalized sexualization earned lower grades and standardized test scores than their peers. In Study 2 ( n = 95), girls who completed a mock newscast prepared differently as a function of internalized sexualization; girls with higher levels of internalized sexualization spent more time applying makeup, and less time practicing the script, than girls with lower levels of internalized sexualization.