Ponente
Descripción
Introduction
Cosmetic use and impression formation
In Western cultures women often self-objectify, taking a third person perspective on their physical self, evaluating their physical appearance as if they were an external observer. Within this framework, research has mainly focused on women’s concern with the appearance of their own body and disregarded another important feature in defining beauty: a person’s face. The face is the first visible source of information in every day interpersonal encounters. Moreover, makeup is framed as one of the most popular tools used by women to enhance their facial attractiveness.
Objectives
Linking self-objectification with makeup use
Merging these insights, the present research aims to test the premise that women’s habits related to their makeup use is positively linked with their level of self-objectification and that appearance-based motivations lie at the basis of their makeup habits.
Method
Procedure and method
An online survey examining women’s habits and their motivations regarding their use of makeup was administered in conjunction with several personality scales measuring participants tendency to self-objectify, their motivation to look attractive to men, their internalization of the sociocultural beauty ideals, and their appearance-based self-esteem.
Results
Women’s habits and motivations regarding their makeup use
A positive correlation between women’s behavioural habits related to their makeup use and their tendency to self-objectify emerged: the more female participants reported to engage in the behaviour linked to the makeup use at hand, the more they reported to spend time checking the way they look during the day and to be worried about their physical appearance. Importantly, the present research aimed to get a better understanding of the possible motivations that lead women engaging in this behaviour. Results also confirmed that are especially those women who are motivated to curate their looks to attract male attention, to improve their physical appearance, and to which appearance is an important source of self-esteem, that reported to use cosmetics.
Conclusions
Makeup use and self-objectification
The present research has some important theoretical as well as practical implications. Focusing for the first time on an unexplored source of self-objectification, that is a person’s own face instead of the whole body, the present research allows to broaden our knowledge about the process of self-objectification per se. Moreover, a daily habit often framed and publicized as a way for women to freely express their personal inclinations as the application of makeup, is expected to be a self-objectifying practice. Future research should replicate this finding using a measure of self-objectification that more directly is linked with physical facial features; as well as involving a sample of women from a different cultural background (e.g., non-Western countries).
| Palabras claves | makeup, self-objectification, self-esteem, sexualization, gender. |
|---|---|
| Modalidad de participación | Presencial |
| País | Italia |
