The Object of My Aggression: Sexual Objectification Increases Physical Aggression Towards Women

Objectification involves reducing someone to a sexual object, rather than seeing themas a full person. Despite numerous theoretical claims that people are more aggressivetoward the objectified, and empirical evidence that objectification is linked to highwillingness to aggress, rape proclivity, and aggressive attitudes, no research hasexamined a causal link between objectification and physical aggression, particularly inthe context of provocation. In two experiments, we examined this predicted link. InExperiment 1, using a 2 (objectification: no/yes) × 2 (provocation: no/yes) factorialbetween-subjects design, we investigated the effects of objectification, induced viabody focus during a face-to-face interaction, and provocation on physical aggressiontoward a female confederate. Our results revealed a significant main effect ofprovocation, a marginal main effect of objectification, and a significant interactionbetween these variables. In the absence of a provocation, focusing on a woman’s bodyincreased aggression toward her. Experiment 2 replicated Experiment 1 using a videoof a target woman instead of a face-to-face interaction. Again, our results showed asignificant two-way interaction between objectification and provocation, whereinobjectification increased aggression in the absence of provocation. Overall, thisresearch indicates that objectification can lead to heightened physical aggressiontoward objectified women.