Sarah Dahl

Date of Award

1-1-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

F. R. Ferraro

Abstract

Many of the measures for self-objectification have theoretical or psychometric issues related to their use. For this reason, the development of a new measure addressing these concerns would be beneficial to the research on self-objectification. Towards this goal of developing and validating a new measure for self-objectification, the Self-Objectification Scale (SOS) was developed. The Self-Objectification Scale is the first scale to be created with two alternative forms for measuring trait and state self-objectification that have undergone analyses for reliability and validity with both men and women. A pilot study of 40 undergraduate men and women was conducted to check the formatting and clarity of the original pool of 30 SOS items, as well as, to perform preliminary analyses for internal consistency. Study 1 was carried out to finalize the items in the SOS through factor analysis and to assess the reliability and validity of the measure. Both undergraduate men (n = 111) and women (n = 150) took part in this study, retaking the Trait Form two weeks later to allow for test-retest analyses to be performed. Study 2 was conducted with undergraduate men (n = 78) and women (n = 78) to further assess the reliability and validity of the State Form; the measure was given after participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition meant to induce a state of self-objectification. Based on the factor structure of the SOS, 15 items were retained and two subscales were created: the SOS-Success and SOS-Self-Worth. The Trait Form demonstrated good reliability and construct validity. The State Form was found to be less reliable; analyses of construct validity were unable to be performed.

Comments

Permission has been granted for reuse of this scale with credit.

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