Objectifying Sarah Palin: Evidence that objectification causes women to be perceived as less competent and less fully human

By Nathan A. Heflick, Jamie L. Goldenberg. 2009

333 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Although a great deal of research has examined the effects of objectification on women’s self-perceptions and behavior, empirical research has yet to address how objectifying a woman affects the way she is perceived by others. We hypothesize that focusing on a woman’s appearance will promote reduced perceptions of competence, and also, by virtue of construing the women as an “object”, perceptions of the woman as less human. We found initial experimental evidence for these hypotheses as a function of objectifying two targets – Sarah Palin and Angelina Jolie. In addition, focusing on Palin’s appearance reduced intentions to vote for the McCain–Palin ticket (prior to the 2008 US Presidential election). We discuss these findings in the context of the election and the objectification of women.

Subfields: Gender Studies, Marketing, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/56a0e9794d0f3f0e86b3e7adcf8840f7fb81ebfe

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Citations in the corpus

Are male leaders penalized for seeking help? The influence of gender and asking behaviors on competence perceptions (2015, methodology): “Previous studies have used these items to assess perceptions of competence as rated by observers (Fiske et al., 2002; Heflick & Goldenberg, 2009; Judd, James-Hawkins, Yzerbyt, & Kashima, 2005; Rudman&Glick, 1999, 2001; Rudman et al., 2012).”
Dehumanization and infrahumanization. (2014, methodology): “Heflick & Goldenberg (2009) and Heflick and colleagues (2011), for example, found that when participants focused on women’s appearance rather than their personhood they viewed them as lacking human nature, as well as warmth, morality, and competence.”
Being a Body: Women’s Appearance Related Self-Views and their Dehumanization of Sexually Objectified Female Targets (2012, unknown): “Initial evidence stems from Heflick and Goldenberg (2009), who showed that U.S. participants of both genders who focused on the appearance rather than the personality of famous female targets (i.e., Sarah Palin or Angelina Jolie) reduced the extent to which these targets were attributed human…”
Seeing women as objects: The sexual body part recognition bias (2012, background): “Heflick and Goldenberg (2009) found that celebrities (e.g., Sarah Palin and Angelina Jolie) were objectified when participants focused on their appearance, rather than the entire person (see also Heflick et al., 2010).”
Sexual Objectification Increases Rape Victim Blame and Decreases Perceived Suffering (2013, background): “Recent research has shown that objectification can be increased by varying sexualized attire (Holland & Haslam, 2013; Loughnan, Haslam, Murnane, et al., 2010; Vaes et al., 2011) and attention toward the body (Heflick & Goldenberg, 2009).”
Mind Perception Is the Essence of Morality (2012, background): “For example, making the bodies of women salient can increase dementalized perceptions of them (Cikara et al., 2010; Heflick & Goldenberg, 2009; Loughnan, Haslam, Murnane, et al., 2010), as can focusing on the bodies of medical patients (K. Gray, Knickman, et al., in press).”
Leadership During Crisis: An Examination of Supervisory Leadership Behavior and Gender During COVID-19 (2021, unknown): “Previous studies have used these items to assess subordinates’ perceptions of supervisor competence (e.g., Fiske et al., 2002; Heflick & Goldenberg, 2009; Rudman & Glick, 1999; Rudman et al., 2012).”
We are human, they are not: Driving forces behind outgroup dehumanisation and the humanisation of the ingroup (2012, background): “Objectification is sometimes presented as more closely linked to mechanistic dehumanisation (e.g., Goldenberg et al., 2009; Heflick & Goldenberg, 2009).”
My Eyes Are Up Here: The Nature of the Objectifying Gaze Toward Women (2013, background): “This study contributes to a growing literature focusing on the predictors and consequences of objectified perceptions and behaviors toward women (e.g., Cikara et al. 2011; Heflick and Goldenberg 2009; Gervais et al. 2012a; Loughnan et al. 2010; Vaes et al. 2011).”
Revisiting the Jezebel Stereotype (2018, background): “…information for both measures, with participants demonstrating greater visual objectification when asked to focus on the target’s appearance rather than their personality, a commonly employed manipulation of objectification (Heflick & Goldenberg 2009; Heflick, Goldenberg, Cooper, & Puvia, 2011).”
Sexualized Avatars Lead to Women’s Self-Objectification and Acceptance of Rape Myths (2015, background): “Several studies have shown that the objectification of women has led to the perception of women as less than human (Heflick & Goldenberg, 2009; Heflick, Goldenberg, Cooper, & Puvia, 2011; Vaes, Paladino, & Puvia, 2011).”