Image source: pusheen.com
Yesterday, I came across this article in New York Magazine. The article summarizes a study, published in Personality and Individual Differences, which found that posting more selfies online is significantly correlated with psychopathy and narcissism, while time spent online is correlated with measures of self-objectification and narcissism in men. I'm not sure why the study focused specifically on men instead of both genders, but I'm sure the findings would be similar across genders (at least in my lay experience). However, what interested me more was the concept of self-objectification, a concept that I had not come across before. Self-objectification, in my review of the literature since, well, yesterday, is the internalization of an external observer's perspective as the primary view of one's self. In other words, physical appearance is prioritized as a signal of self-worth, since outward appearances are the most easily observed by outsiders. Past research has found that this is linked to depression, sexual dysfunction, and eating disorders in women (unsurprisingly). Little research has looked at whether self-objectification is present in men and the effects that self-objectification may have on male members of society. It seems likely that self-objectification could affect men as well as women, though perhaps to a lesser extent (or to an equal or greater extent in certain sub-populations). Thus, this new study is contributing to objectification theory by showing a real-life behavior that is correlated with self-objectification (time spent on social-networking sites). Still, it seems like it would be just as interesting to study the behavior of women online as well and to see if there were gender differences in personality traits correlated with the number of selfies and time spent online (rather than focusing on one gender and leaving us to guess as to whether these findings would be similar or different for females).
It seems to me that self-objectification would be a problem in any society that values external appearance. But why then are some people more susceptible to it than others? And how do people respond to self-objectification? If selfies are a signal of self-objectification, how do others treat people who post more (versus less) selfies (a sort of meta-self-objectification if you will)? I'm clearly not a big fan of the heavily curated nature of social networking sites, but at the same time, I can't help but feel sadness for those who have started self-objectifying. Ultimately, there will come a time when no number of filters or photo-manipulation will make those selfies acceptable, and what happens then? What happens after years of cultivating an external appearance at the cost of other pursuits whose benefits are not displayed outwardly?
It seems to me that self-objectification would be a problem in any society that values external appearance. But why then are some people more susceptible to it than others? And how do people respond to self-objectification? If selfies are a signal of self-objectification, how do others treat people who post more (versus less) selfies (a sort of meta-self-objectification if you will)? I'm clearly not a big fan of the heavily curated nature of social networking sites, but at the same time, I can't help but feel sadness for those who have started self-objectifying. Ultimately, there will come a time when no number of filters or photo-manipulation will make those selfies acceptable, and what happens then? What happens after years of cultivating an external appearance at the cost of other pursuits whose benefits are not displayed outwardly?
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