Psychology of Women Quarterly

Scholars have highlighted the detrimental influence of racially charged stereotypes and images on self-perception and well being. Others have suggested that identity components (e.g., ethnic identity and self-concept) serve a protective function. The purposes of this study were (a) to explore the relationship among stereotypic images, beauty standards that are consistent with “colorism,” and identity components of African American girls and (b) to determine the impact of these variables on girls' sexual attitudes. African American girls (N = 270) between the ages of 10–15 years old completed a self-report questionnaire, which included a new measure, the Modern Jezebel Scale, that was used to assess stereotypic images. A series of multiple regressions were performed using identity components, stereotypic images, and colorism as independent variables and sexual attitude variables as the outcome. In addition, interaction effects were explored to determine if identity components moderated the influence of stereotypic images and colorism on sexual attitudes. As expected, findings revealed significant positive relationships among stereotypic images, colorism, and sexual risk. In addition, significant interactions were found between identity components and stereotypes. Instead of identity serving as a buffer against the negative effects of societal messages, endorsement of stereotypes and colorism increased sexual risk in the context of identity components. Results suggest that a strong identity may not be enough to reduce sexual risk if girls cannot critically analyze the societal messages that they receive. Implications for prevention efforts are discussed.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant concern for some lesbian households with children. Yet we know of only one study that has examined lesbian mothers' experiences with IPV. In the current study we analyzed the counseling experiences of participants in our prior study. Interviews with 24 lesbian mothers (12 Black, 9 White, and 3 Latina) 23 to 54 years of age (M = 39.5) were coded using thematic analysis. Overall, lesbian mothers experiencing IPV did seek help from counselors (n = 15, 63%), typically after reaching a breaking point. Counselors were most helpful when addressing the abuse and promoting self-empowerment, and least helpful when victim-blaming or ignoring the abuse and/or the same-sex relationship. Lesbian mothers' perceptions that mental health professionals were sometimes ineffective have implications for provider training. In order to work effectively with this population, providers should attempt to eliminate or correct personal biases or prejudices with self-exploration and education. By becoming more aware and knowledgeable of the nuances, struggles, and strengths of the lesbian community, providers can gain competency in providing therapeutic services to such clients. Mental health professionals can also adopt an advocacy stance to assist in spreading cultural awareness to others and support policy or institutional changes to include same-sex IPV. Competencies can be assessed through future studies that identify the knowledge and skills gap among mental health professionals who frequently work with the lesbian population.

Popular media convey notions that the United States is a postfeminist culture, where sexism is a thing of the past and gender equality prevails. Empirical data suggest otherwise. Further, links between group-based discrimination and psychological distress have been well documented (e.g., in bisexual and gay Latino men, African Americans, Asian Americans). Less understood are mediating factors explaining these links. We hypothesized a theory-based, integrated path model of women's distress and well-being as predicted by sexist events, highlighting intermediate effects of women's beliefs about justice and control in their lives. Specifically, we hypothesized that the more a woman experiences sexist events, the less fair and just her life seems; in turn, she feels less control of her life and reports heightened mental health concerns (depression, anxiety, less well-being). Cross-sectional data from 264 women indicated that sexist events had indirect effects on all three mental health variables, as mediated by just world beliefs and personal control, in sequence. However, direct (nonmediated) effects of sexist events on mental health remained. Both mean levels and patterns of links among variables were similar for African American and European American women. Regarding intervention, a key feminist goal is connecting personal distress with power and context. Women's health may be enhanced by increasing awareness of links found here, supporting development of attributions for distress extending beyond personal problems to societal conditions, skills to enhance feelings of personal control in other areas of their lives, and connections to the history of women's empowered social action.

Second-generation women psychologists lived and worked between the two waves of organized feminist protest in the United States. This period is usually described as a time when feminist activity was suppressed or put on hold, and women psychologists from this period are often depicted as being collectively nonfeminist in orientation. In particular, historical accounts of the National Council of Women Psychologists (NCWP), formed in 1942, call the strength and value of members' feminist activism into question. Recent scholarship on interwave feminist activity in the United States has offered a new way of looking at the NCWP, and exploring feminist historiography and using archival data, we suggest that women of the NCWP used a variety of strategies appropriate to their zeitgeist to improve the standing of women in psychology. Some of these strategies do not map well onto post-1960s' definitions of feminist activism and so their effectiveness may not be easily recognized. We argue that the NCWP provided a platform for second-generation women psychologists to document gender-based disparities, debate strategies, and raise awareness of women's contributions to the field. In doing so, the NCWP prepared the ground for second-wave feminist organizing of the 1970s. We suggest that a close look at the struggles and strategies of the NCWP offers important lessons for contemporary feminist organizations in psychology.

Researchers have demonstrated that Women's Studies courses can influence changes in beliefs about women, yet there is relatively little research on the impact of introducing material about women into mainstream curriculum. The current study examines the effects of introducing women exemplars into a course that is not identified as “Women's Studies.” Students enrolled in a political psychology course all attended the same lectures and were assigned the same readings; however, one-third of the discussion sections received a gender-inclusive curriculum. As hypothesized, female students in the gender-inclusive sections wrote more frequently about women and leadership intheir final exams, including the positive influence of female leaders on their own identities in terms of leadership and career opportunities. These findings suggest that female college students benefit significantly from female exemplars in mainstream course curriculum.

Drawing upon Self-Determination Theory, the purpose of our study was to examine the motivational determinants of older women's dropout and participation in physical activity (PA). Older women who dropped out (n = 242) or remained (n = 332) in an organized PA program completed the Sport Motivation Scale as well as health and PA measures. We found that women who dropped out presented lower levels of self-determined motivations and higher levels of amotivation than persistent women. Cluster analyses revealed three motivational profiles among persistent participants: “High Combined” (high levels of self-determined motivation and introjected regulation as well as moderate levels of external regulation), “High Introjected” (moderate scores of self-determined motivation and high introjected regulation as well as low scores of external regulation), and “Moderate Introjected” (low levels of self-determined motivation, moderate levels of introjected regulation, and low levels of external regulation). Our study adds to our understanding of motivational processes and of older women's participation in and withdrawal from PA. It revealed that different motivations could drive active older women's engagement in PA, and it provided support for a person-centered approach in which distinctive combinations of motivations emerged among different groups of active older women. The messages delivered in order to promote PA may account for the multidimensionality of motivation and may be oriented toward different purposes, tapping into different forms of motivation and informing the design of interventions aimed at promoting women's health.

Our study explored the influence of thin- versus normal-size media models and of self-reported restrained eating behavior on women's observed snacking behavior. Fifty female undergraduates saw a set of advertisements for beauty products showing either thin or computer-altered normal-size female models, allegedly as part of a study on effective advertising. After rating the advertisements, they were offered a choice of snacks that came either in a normal or a diet variant. Habitual tendency to show restrained eating behavior was measured as an individual difference variable. Above and beyond body mass index, significantly more women chose the diet snack in the thin-model condition than in the normal-size model condition. The model main effect was moderated by habitual restrained eating. In the normal-size model condition, the more women reported restrained eating, the more likely they were to choose the diet snack. By contrast, women in the thin-model group were more likely to choose the diet snack regardless of individual differences in habitual restrained eating. The findings show that in the present sample of White college women the impact of body images pressures was pervasive, affecting some women by encouraging habitual restrained eating and even less restrained eaters through their exposure to published images of thin models.

The present study aimed to investigate the role of social comparison processing in women's responses to thin idealized images. In particular, it was predicted that comparison with the images on the basis of appearance would lead to more negative outcomes than comparison on the basis of intelligence. A sample of 114 women viewed fashion magazine advertisements featuring thin and attractive models under one of three instructional set conditions: control, appearance comparison, and intelligence comparison instructions. We found that both comparison instructional set conditions led to decreased mood relative to the control condition, but they had no effect on subsequent body dissatisfaction. However, regression analyses indicated that the form of processing in which individuals (irrespective of experimental condition) actually engaged was crucial. In particular, both appearance comparison processing (positively) and intelligence comparison processing (negatively) were associated with increased body dissatisfaction. In addition, poorer recall of both products and their brand names was associated with a greater impact of the media images on mood and body dissatisfaction. We concluded that the dimensions on which social comparison takes place are critical in women's response to media-portrayed thin ideal images, with comparisons on the basis of intelligence or education associated with more positive reactions. More generally, the results offer strong support to appearance social comparison as the mechanism by which idealized media images translate into body dissatisfaction for many women.

In recent years, beauty ideals and practices have been explained almost exclusively using evolutionary psychological frameworks, to the exclusion of more proximate factors such as psychosocial and individual psychological variables. To overcome this limitation, we examined the associations among sexist beliefs, objectification of others, media exposure, and three distinct beauty ideals or practices. Across three studies, a total of 1,158 participants in a British community sample completed a series of scales that measured their attitudes toward women, hostility toward women, benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, their tendency to objectify others, media exposure, and endorsement of the thin ideal and (for women) body dissatisfaction (Study 1); height preferences in an other-sex partner (Study 2); and endorsement of cosmetic use (Study 3). Across the three studies, results supported the idea that sexist beliefs predicted beauty ideals and practices, although the strength of these associations varied according to the ideal or practice in question. These results support feminist critiques that beauty ideals and practices in Western societies are linked with sexist attitudes. Furthermore, our results suggest that programmes aimed to reduce or eliminate sexist attitudes, or that promote more gender egalitarian attitudes, may result in healthier beauty ideals and practices.

Several studies have shown that body satisfaction affects interpersonal functioning. However, few have studied the specific interpersonal correlates of another important body image dimension, appearance investment—that is, the importance a woman places on appearance. We used an experience sampling design with PDA (personal digital assistant) devices to assess how 92 college women's appearance investment is related to perceptions of everyday social interactions and to investigate the association of these perceptions with mood and self-esteem. For 1 week, participants completed electronic diaries of their mood, self-esteem, and perceptions of one-on-one interactions. High appearance investment was associated with a stronger relationship between perceived communion of the interaction and negative mood and self-esteem. Notably, highly appearance-invested women did not report differences in average momentary levels of perceived communion or agency in interactions, negative mood, or self-esteem when compared to women with lower appearance investment. In contrast, women with low body satisfaction reported lower average perceptions of communion and self-esteem as well as higher average negative mood compared to women with higher body satisfaction, but no relationships among perceptions and self-esteem and mood were found. Thus, self-esteem and negative mood in women high in appearance investment might be contingent on perceptions of communion in interactions, even though they appear to have average levels of mood and self-esteem in general. This mood and self-esteem contingency could predispose appearance-invested women to psychological distress or eating pathology.

Findings regarding the link between body image and sexuality have been equivocal, possibly because of the insensitivity of many body image measures to potential variability across sensory aspects of the body (e.g., appearance versus odor), individual body parts (e.g., genitalia versus thighs), and social settings (e.g., public versus intimate). The current study refined existing methods of evaluating women's body image in the context of sexuality by focusing upon two highly specified dimensions: satisfaction with the visual appearance of the genitalia and self-consciousness about the genitalia during a sexual encounter. Genital appearance dissatisfaction, genital image self-consciousness, and multiple facets of sexuality were examined among a sample of 217 undergraduate women using an online survey. Path analysis revealed that greater dissatisfaction with genital appearance was associated with higher genital image self-consciousness during physical intimacy, which, in turn, was associated with lower sexual esteem, sexual satisfaction, and motivation to avoid risky sexual behavior. These findings underscore the detrimental impact of negative genital perceptions on young women's sexual well-being, which is of particular concern given their vulnerability at this stage of sexual development as well as the high rates of sexually transmitted infections within this age group. Interventions that enhance satisfaction with the natural appearance of their genitalia could facilitate the development of a healthy sexual self-concept and provide long-term benefits in terms of sexual safety and satisfaction.

The purposes of this article are threefold: (a) to test measurement invariance of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS), a central tool for testing objectification theory, across men and women, given that measurement invariance is a prerequisite for gender comparisons; (b) to examine the mediating role of body shame in the link between body surveillance and depressive symptoms for both men and women; and (c) to investigate whether body surveillance and subsequent body shame could explain, at least in part, gender differences in depressive symptoms. Two studies were conducted with two college samples (N = 360 and 278). Results indicate that factor loadings of OBCS differed for the gender groups, revealing that body surveillance and body shame items for women and body control beliefs for men are more closely aligned with their intended latent factors. Our analyses also supported the proposed two mediation models: body shame mediated the relation between body surveillance and depressive symptoms for both gender groups; and body surveillance and related body shame mediated the gender difference in depressive symptoms. Overall our studies highlight that testing measurement invariance can expose differences in scale functioning for men and women, calling into question findings based on the use of those scales.