281

British Journal of Social Psychology (2017), 56, 281–292

© 2016 The British Psychological Society
www.wileyonlinelibrary.com

Special section paper

Effects of objectifying gaze on female cognitive
performance: The role of flow experience and
internalization of beauty ideals
Francesca Guizzo1* and Mara Cadinu2
1
Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova,
Italy
2
Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Italy

Although previous research has demonstrated that objectification impairs female

cognitive performance, no research to date has investigated the mechanisms underlying
such decrement. Therefore, we tested the role of flow experience as one mechanism
leading to performance decrement under sexual objectification. Gaze gender was
manipulated by having male versus female experimenters take body pictures of female
participants (N = 107) who then performed a Sustained Attention to Response Task. As
predicted, a moderated mediation model showed that under male versus female gaze,
higher internalization of beauty ideals was associated with lower flow, which in turn
decreased performance. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to
objectification theory and strategies to prevent sexually objectifying experiences.

Realizing that another person is not so interested in what we are saying, but instead
focused on our body is a relatively common experience for women. Indeed, women, more
than men, are often evaluated on the basis of the way they look, identified with their
physical appearance, and reduced to instruments for the pleasure of others, a process
called sexual objectification (Bartky, 1990; Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Swim, Hyers,
Cohen, & Ferguson, 2001). Objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) also
proposes that sexually objectifying experiences encourage women to adopt the
observers’ sexually objectifying gaze on the self, a process called self-objectification.
Extensive research has demonstrated negative consequences of self-objectification on
female psychological and cognitive well-being (for reviews see Calogero, Tantleff-Dunn,
& Thompson, 2011; Moradi & Huang, 2008; Tiggemann, 2011), including reduced
cognitive performance (Gervais, Vescio, & Allen, 2011; Quinn, Kallen, Twenge, &
Fredrickson, 2006). However, no research to date has demonstrated why such
performance deficit occurs. The main goal of the present work was to fill this gap.
Therefore, we investigated the effects of situational experiences of sexual objectification
(via male gaze) on female cognitive performance and tested reduced ‘flow’ experience as a
possible mechanism underlying underperformance.

*Correspondence should be addressed to Francesca Guizzo, Dipartimento di Psicologia dello Sviluppo e della Socializzazione,
Universita degli Studi di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padova, Italia (email: francesca.guizzo@unipd.it).

DOI:10.1111/bjso.12170
282 Francesca Guizzo and Mara Cadinu

In their seminal work, Fredrickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn, and Twenge (1998)
manipulated self-objectification by having participants wear a swimsuit versus sweater in
front of a mirror and subsequently perform a math test. Results showed that women, but
not men, underperformed in the self-objectification condition. Similarly, Gervais et al.
(2011) found that women, but not men, underperformed in math under sexually
objectifying gaze. Body surveillance was also measured, but was unaffected by gaze.
However, results by both Fredrickson et al. and Gervais et al. may alternatively be
explained based on female concerns in male gender-stereotypical tasks (i.e., Stereotype
Threat; Steele & Aronson, 1995). Although Quinn, Kallen, Twenge, et al. (2006) ruled out
this alternative explanation using a gender-neutral task, the processes underlying
cognitive impairment under sexual objectification are still unclear.
Objectification theory predicts that sexual objectification occurs primarily in actual
interaction contexts in which the sexually objectifying male gaze is played out
(Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Indeed, for women the mere anticipation of male versus
female gaze increases body anxiety and shame (Calogero, 2004). Similarly, if women
think that they are interacting with a man while a camera focuses on their body, they
narrow their presence by talking less (Saguy, Quinn, Dovidio, & Pratto, 2010). Thus,
scholars suggested that the male gaze specifically triggers the sexual component of
objectification because women are socialized to value themselves based on ‘their
fulfillment of the role of sex object for men’ (Calogero, 2013, p. 99). Accordingly, we
manipulated sexual objectification by having participants receiving a male versus
female gaze on their body. Similarly, Gay and Castano (2010) demonstrated that male
versus female gaze disrupts working memory performance of women with high trait
self-objectification, but found no evidence regarding underlying processes. To fill this
gap, also in line with studies on athletic performance (Jackson, Thomas, Marsh, &
Smethurst, 2001; Sch€ uler & Brunner, 2009; Stavrou, Jackson, Zervas, & Karteroliotis,
2007), we hypothesized reduced flow experience as one mechanism triggering
performance deficit.

Flow experience
Flow (or peak motivational states) is defined as the experience of complete immersion in a
demanding mental or physical task, also associated with enjoyment and creativity
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). For example, for a violinist a flow experience may correspond
to the fulfilling sensation of becoming ‘one with the violin’. In the athletic domain, flow is a
well-known predictor of performance, with athletes performing better at higher levels of
flow, which is typically measured with retrospective questionnaires (Jackson et al., 2001;
Stavrou et al., 2007). Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) also emphasized the role of flow in
the objectification framework and predicted a self-objectification condition to decrease
flow: taking an external perspective on the self (i.e., self-objectification) would lead
women to allocate their attention on being an object to be inspected, thus hindering total
engagement in rewarding activities and compromising their well-being. Indeed, initial
evidence supported the link between self-objectification and disrupted flow as well as the
predictive role of flow on depressed mood (Szymanski & Henning, 2007; Tiggemann &
Kuring, 2004).
Moreover, Moradi and Huang (2008) pointed out that in the objectification framework
cognitive performance has even been used as a proxy of flow, thus highlighting the strong
theoretical connection between them. However, no research has tested the role of flow in
cognitive performance under sexual objectification. Therefore, in line with research in
 Objectifying gaze and cognitive performance 283

the athletic domain (Stavrou et al., 2007), we hypothesized that higher levels of
immersion in the task would predict better performance.

Internalization of beauty ideals

Individual differences may also modulate the consequences of sexually objectifying
experiences. Internalization of beauty ideals refers to the extent ‘to which an individual
considers the societal norms of size and appearance to be appropriate standards for his or
her own size and appearance’ (Vandenbosch & Eggermont, 2012, p. 870). Internalization
of unrealistic beauty ideals is a risk factor for body image concerns and eating disorders
(Thompson & Stice, 2001) and predicts self-objectification, body dissatisfaction, and
negative well-being outcomes (Calogero, Davis, & Thompson, 2005; Vandenbosch &
Eggermont, 2012; see Cafri, Yamamiya, Brannick, & Thompson, 2005 for a review).
Interpersonal experiences of sexual objectification (e.g., being ogled) have also been
linked to increased body surveillance and internalization of beauty ideals (Kozee, Tylka,
Augustus-Horvath, & Denchik, 2007; Moradi, Dirks, & Matteson, 2005). However,
internalization has never been measured in experiments enacting sexually objectifying
interactions. Therefore, the second main prediction of the present study is that
vulnerability to male gaze would depend on how strongly women have internalized
society standards of beauty. In addition, in line with previous literature (Kozee et al.,
2007), body surveillance was added as a supplementary measure to test whether male (vs.
female) gaze would also increase body surveillance and whether internalization would
moderate this effect.

Main goals
The first main goal was to investigate flow as one mechanism explaining the effect of male
versus female gaze on female cognitive performance. The second main goal was to test the
moderating role of internalization in the chain of effects above. We hypothesized male (vs.
female) gaze to elicit lower flow (and higher body surveillance) and thus lower
performance especially for higher internalization participants.

Method
Pilot study
An exploratory 2 (Gaze Gender: male vs. female experimenter) 9 2 (Focus: body vs.
control) study included 159 Caucasian female participants (Mage = 23.21, SDage = 3.39;
80% university students, 20% workers) randomly assigned to interact with either a male or
female experimenter, who took pictures of either their body (body focus) or a neutral
object (control). Unsurprisingly, Body Surveillance was higher under body (M = 3.58,
SD = .98) than control Focus, M = 3.15, SD = .95; F(1, 155) = 7.98, p = .005, g2p = .05.
More interestingly, Body Surveillance was also higher under male (M = 3.52, SD = .95)
than female Gaze, M = 3.21, SD = 1.00; F(1, 155) = 4.16, p = .041, g2p = .03. Most
importantly, slower performance on a Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART,
Robertson, Manly, Andrade, Baddeley, & Yiend, 1997) was found under male
(M = 389.46, SD = 104.27) than female Gaze, M = 346.32, SD = 87.56; F(1,
148) = 7.54, p = .007, g2p = .05. Taken together, these results extended research by
Calogero (2004) and Saguy et al. (2010) by showing that a real interaction with a man
284 Francesca Guizzo and Mara Cadinu

(vs. woman) increases body surveillance and impairs attention. To extend these findings,
we also tested the mediating role of Flow and the moderating role of Internalization on the
effects of Gaze Gender on SART performance.

Participants
One hundred and seven Caucasian female participants were recruited by one of four
experimenters (two male and two female) via web announcement on Psychology
Facebook page, at university libraries and study rooms, or among acquaintances. Random
assignment had one constraint: If recruiters personally knew participants, the latter
would be entrusted to the other same-gender experimenter. Thus, all participants had the
same probability of being assigned to male or female experimenters. Age range was 18–31
(Mage = 21.23 years, SD = 2.35). Sample included 71% university students (heteroge-
neously distributed among law, economics, medicine, psychology, biology, and
engineering), 29% workers or unemployed, 90% heterosexuals, 3% lesbians, and 5%
bisexuals (2% did not report their sexual orientation). Non-heterosexual participants were
retained because excluding them from analyses produced the same results. Procedure
followed the same order in which measures are presented below. Please notice that other
measures were collected (see Appendix S1).

Procedure
One week before the experiment, participants filled out the Internalization subscale of
Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire-3 (SATAQ-3; i.e., Sociocul-
tural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire), allegedly as part of an unrelated
study. Participants were then accompanied individually to a laboratory and informed
that they would participate in two allegedly unrelated studies. After signing informed
consent, a cover story presented the goal of the first study as to collect materials for
impression-formation research. The experimenter photographed the participant from
the neck down, both from the front and from the back. Afterwards, participants filled
out a questionnaire allegedly measuring unrelated individual differences (body
surveillance). Right afterwards, experimenters showed participants the pictures
allegedly to check their quality and then introduced them to an ostensibly second
experiment on attention. Participants performed a computer SART and then filled out
the typical retrospective Flow experience questionnaire. All questionnaires were
completed on Survey Monkey. Finally, in line with ethics committee, participants were
debriefed, asked to sign a second informed consent to allow use of their data, thanked,
and dismissed.

Materials
Internalization of beauty ideals
The SATAQ-3 (Thompson, van den Berg, Roehrig, Guarda, & Heinberg, 2004) is a self-
report questionnaire measuring awareness and internalization of society beauty ideals
with excellent convergent validity (Thompson et al., 2004). Seven days before the
experiment, participants filled out the validated Italian version (Stefanile, Matera, Nerini,
& Pisani, 2011) of the 9-item Internalization-General subscale (e.g., ‘I would like my body
to look like the models in magazines’; 1 = definitely disagree, 5 = definitely agree;
a = .95).
 Objectifying gaze and cognitive performance 285

Gaze gender manipulation

Similarly to Gay and Castano (2010), we manipulated sexual objectification by having
one of two male versus female experimenters take participants’ pictures. Specifically,
participants stood upright while the experimenter took two photos from the front
and two photos from the back. Experimenters inclined the camera evidently framing
only the body from neck down and mimicked the framing with gaze. Participants
interacted with experimenters for the entire duration of the experiment (approxi-
mately 30 min). Experimenters were psychology students or trainees in their early
twenties.

Body surveillance
As in the pilot study, participants completed a state 8-item version of Body Surveillance
subscale adapted and translated in Italian from the Objectified Body Consciousness scale
(OBCs; McKinley & Hyde, 1996). OBCs, originally developed as trait scales, is commonly
used to measure self-objectification (Moradi & Huang, 2008). Participants were asked to
think about themselves in this precise moment and respond on 7-point scales
(1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree; a = .79).

Sustained Attention to Response Task

As in the pilot study, participants performed a SART (Robertson et al., 1997) to measure
sustained attention, that is, ‘the ability to self-sustain mindful, conscious processing of
stimuli whose repetitive, non-arousing qualities would otherwise lead to habituation and
distraction toward other stimuli’ (Robertson et al., 1997, p. 747). SARTs are similar to GO/
NOGO tasks as participants are asked to withhold responses to infrequent targets. In the
original version, participants respond one by one to streams of digits (from 1 to 9) and
withhold responses to the digit 3. Although SART does not involve computation, the mere
exposure to numbers may elicit math stereotype threat to female participants. To
overcome this potential confound, differently from the pilot study, participants
performed a modified version of SART in which digits were replaced with letters.
Participants were presented with streams of letters (from A to I) one by one in the middle
of the screen in different font sizes for 250 ms, followed by 900 ms masks. They had to
press the SPACEBAR if any letter other than C appeared, but to withhold the response if C
appeared. A total of 225 letters were presented, 25 of which were withhold trials. Inquisit
Lab was used (Millisecond Software LLC, Seattle, WA, USA, version 4) to record SART
Success (correct withhold trials) as well as reaction times. As no effects were found on
reaction times, only SART Success percentages are reported.

Flow experience
Participants completed an adapted version of Flow Experience State scale (Jackson &
Marsh, 1996), originally developed to predict athletic performance, which is designed as a
retrospective questionnaire. Following suggestions by Moradi and Huang (2008), along
with other subscales that did not produce significant results (see Appendix S1), we
measured Challenge-Skill-balance (e.g., ‘I was challenged, but I believed my skills would
allow me to meet the challenge’, a = .73), a fundamental dimension representing the
perception of balance between ability and task demands.
286 Francesca Guizzo and Mara Cadinu

Results
Descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations are presented in Table 1. Body
Surveillance, SART and Flow did not vary across Gaze Gender conditions, t(105)
< 1.35, p > .18. After the tests of Internalization as a moderator, we hereby report the
proposed moderated mediation model.

Table 1. Means, standard deviations, and zero-order correlations of the main variables

M (SD) 1 2 3 4

1. Internalization 1.94 (0.90) –

2. Body Surveillance 3.40 (1.04) .40*** –
3. SART Success percentage 44.19 (26.94) .02 .05 –
4. Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance 2.87 (0.75) .23* .11 .41*** –

Note. Ns vary across measures because n = 14 participants did not complete the Internalization scale,
which was collected one week before the experiment.
Ns = 107–93, *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Moderation analyses
Series of multiple regressions tested the hypothesis that Internalization would moderate
the effect of Gaze Gender on each dependent measure. In the first step, we entered Gaze
Gender (0 = female, 1 = male) and Internalization (continuous, centred), and in the
second step, their two-way interaction. Significant results emerged only on Flow_Chal-
lenge-Skill-balance.

Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance
A significant interaction was found between Internalization and Gaze Gender on
Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance (b = .59, t = 3.52, p = .001). The interaction

5.00
Male Gaze
4.50
Female Gaze
Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance

4.00

3.50

3.00

2.50

2.00

1.50

1.00
LOWER Internalizaon HIGHER Internalizaon

Figure 1. Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance during the SART as a function of Gaze Gender at higher (1SD
above mean) and lower (1SD below mean) levels of Internalization of beauty ideals.
 Objectifying gaze and cognitive performance 287

significantly increased the amount of variance explained, DR2 = .11, p = .001, R2 = .19,
F(3, 89) = 6.95, p < .001. Specifically, for participants under male gaze, higher
Internalization predicted lower Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance whereas participants under
female gaze were not influenced by Internalization (Figure 1). Therefore, as expected,
Internalization moderated the effect of Gaze Gender on Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance.

Moderated mediation analysis

Because (1) Internalization moderated the effect of Gaze Gender on Flow_Challenge-
Skill-balance and (2) Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance was associated with Success on
SART (Table 1), a moderated mediation model was tested. Using PROCESS compu-
tational tool for conditional process analysis (Hayes, 2013), we included in the model
(Figure 2) Gaze Gender (0 = female, 1 = male) as independent variable, Internaliza-
tion as a moderator of condition on the mediator (i.e., Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance),
and SART Success as the final outcome. Similar to previous analyses, Figure 2 shows
that Internalization significantly moderates the relation between Gaze Gender and
Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance (b = .59, t = 3.30, p = .001, 95% LLCI = .94,
ULCI = .23; Model: F(3, 89) = 5.92, p = .001, R2 = .19): for participants under
male versus female gaze, higher Internalization predicted lower Flow_Challenge-Skill-
balance, which in turn decreased SART Success, b = .15.98, t = 4.35, p < .001, 95%
LLCI = 8.68, ULCI = 23.28; Model: F(2, 90) = 9.63, p < .001, R2 = .20. Noticeably,
whereas the direct effect of Gaze Gender on SART was not significant (b = 4.25,
t = .85, p > .39; see Hayes, 2009, for a discussion), significance of overall
moderated mediation index (x = 9.37; LLCI = 16.99, ULCI = 4.00 with 5000
bootstrap samples) demonstrated a significant indirect negative effect of Gaze Gender
on SART Success through Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance moderated by Internalization.
To rule out bidirectional effects between SART and Flow, the reverse model was
tested entering SART Success as mediator and Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance as final
outcome, still with Gaze Gender as independent variable and Internalization as
moderator. The reverse model was not supported (x = .80; LLCI = .27, ULCI = .08
with 5000 bootstrap samples).

Figure 2. Moderated mediation model testing the indirect effect of Gaze Gender (0 = female,
1 = male) on SART Success percentage through Flow_Challenge-Skill-balance moderated by Internal-
ization of beauty ideals. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
288 Francesca Guizzo and Mara Cadinu

Discussion
The present study significantly extends previous objectification research by demonstrat-
ing, for the first time, that sexually objectifying gaze disrupts women’s attention
performance via decreased flow as the balance between skills and task demands. Also
importantly, results demonstrate that flow disruption depends on the degree to which
participants chronically rely on society (unrealistic) beauty ideals typically promoted by
media.
These results have several important implications. Since its early conceptualization,
flow has been conceptualized as a rewarding experience of complete immersion in an
activity that is core to pleasure, fulfilment, creativity, and ultimately good quality of life
(Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002). Consistently, flow has
been theorized as a central node in the chain linking sexually objectifying experiences to
major negative well-being outcomes (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Thus, the present
study strongly supports objectification theory by showing, for the first time, that flow
experience is indeed a crucial node explaining cognitive underperformance under sexual
objectification.
In addition, the present findings highlight once more the powerful effects of mass
media that pressure women to internalize mostly unrealistic standards of beauty (APA,
2010), a condition that disrupts female flow in sexually objectifying interaction contexts
such as under male gaze. Therefore, the present study provides direct support to a broader
model in which internalization of beauty ideals is a key component of sexual
objectification and self-objectification processes (Moradi, 2010; Vandenbosch & Egger-
mont, 2012). More generally, future research should further focus on individual
differences, such as internalization, as well as prior chronic sexually objectifying
experiences, that might modulate women’s reaction to situational contexts conveying
sexual objectification (e.g., via male gaze).
A limitation of the present study is that, contrary to the pilot study, body surveillance
was not influenced by gaze gender but simply showed a positive correlation with
internalization. Although these mixed findings should be taken with caution, they may
suggest that, as pointed out by Gervais et al. (2011), a single experience of sexual
objectification (via male gaze) may not be sufficient to affect body surveillance compared
to the chronic exposure to sexually objectifying situations that women encounter in their
daily life. Another differentiating element between pilot study and study derives from
situational (uncontrolled) experimental features that might have modulated gaze gender
effects on body surveillance. For example, the pilot study was carried out in spring/
summer whereas the study took place during fall/winter. Participants of the pilot study
might have shown more body surveillance under male (vs. female) gaze because they
were more scantily dressed compared to the study participants, a feature that might have
strengthened the sexual component of the male gaze. Thus, the different clothing worn
across seasons, associated with different amounts of skin exposed, may be responsible for
the inconsistent results in the two studies.
Overall, in the last decades, increasing evidence points to the negative effects of sexual
objectification especially for women’s psychological and cognitive well-being (for
reviews, Calogero et al., 2011; Moradi & Huang, 2008). The present demonstration of the
crucial role of flow underlying cognitive underperformance is therefore especially
important to plan effective prevention and intervention strategies. For example, initial
evidence has already shown that mindfulness training programs with athletes help
enhance flow and consequently performance (Aherne, Moran, & Lonsdale, 2011;
 Objectifying gaze and cognitive performance 289

Kaufman, Glass, & Arnkoff, 2009). Similarly, we think that mindfulness training would be a
promising intervention also in the context of objectification, possibly helping prevent
flow disruption when women are at risk for sexual objectification, for example, during
sexualizing job interviews. In addition, media literacy might be an effective strategy to
raise awareness that mass media are the main promoters of unrealistic body standards and
sexualization, an awareness that might temper the internalization of such standards and
also protect women against sexual objectification consequences (Tylka & Augustus-
Horvath, 2011).
In conclusion, given that women report sexually objectifying experiences almost on
an everyday basis (Holland, Koval, Stratemeyer, Thomson, & Haslam, 2016), the present
findings are especially worrisome considering that they are the product of a small
situational manipulation, which may grossly underestimate female daily risk of sexually
objectifying encounters. Such daily interactions might repeatedly prevent women from
achieving optimal flow, thus hindering rewarding and pleasurable experiences and
success in cognitive tasks and ultimately affecting their quality of life. Therefore, we deem
it especially important for future research to test the efficacy of prevention and
intervention strategies aimed at tempering the harmful effects of sexual objectification.
Cultivating rewarding flow experiences in the face of sexually objectifying contexts might
be a promising approach with potentially positive ripple effects on the global cognitive
and psychological well-being of women.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by PRIN grant number 20123X2PXT_003 (2012) from the Italian
Ministry of Education, University and Research.

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Received 31 March 2016; revised version received 28 September 2016

Supporting Information
The following supporting information may be found in the online edition of the article:
Appendix S1. Additional materials and results.