University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research: Psychology, Department of Department of Psychology 5-2019 The Objectification Equation: How Objectifying Experiences Add Up to Subtract Women and Girls From Pursuing STEM Abigail Rose Riemer University of Nebraska–Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/psychdiss Part of the Psychology Commons Riemer, Abigail Rose, "The Objectification Equation: How Objectifying Experiences Add Up to Subtract Women and Girls From Pursuing STEM" (2019). Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research: Department of Psychology. 111. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/psychdiss/111 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research: Department of Psychology by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE OBJECTIFICATION EQUATION: HOW OBJECTIFYING EXPERIENCES ADD UP TO SUBTRACT WOMEN AND GIRLS FROM PURSUING STEM by Abigail R. Riemer A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Psychology Under the Supervision of Professor Sarah J. Gervais Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2019 THE OBJECTIFICATION EQUATION: HOW OBJECTIFYING EXPERIENCES ADD UP TO SUBTRACT WOMEN AND GIRLS FROM PURSUING STEM Abigail Rose Riemer, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2019 Advisor: Sarah J. Gervais Women have long been underrepresented within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. The present work proposed a novel integration of objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) and the social cognitive theory of agency (Bandura, 1989) to explain why feW young women pursue STEM educational goals. A pair of complementary in-lab and ecological momentary assessment studies with a female college student sample (Study 1) and female high school student sample (Study 2) tested the proposed model and examined the relations betWeen objectifying experiences, self-objectification, and goals as they occurred in the moment using a smartphone aPPlication. As hypothesized, more experiences of objectification predicted more same day self-objectification for college Women and high school girls. Also consistent with hypotheses, college women were less likely to have a STEM educational goal on a day they engaged in high levels of self-objectification, though this effect did not emerge for high school girls. More experiences of objectification and higher levels of self-objectification in a day predicted a greater likelihood of having a feminine goal (i.e., relating to appearance, romantic relationships, or houseWork) that day for college women, but not high school girls. Inconsistent with hypotheses, daily objectification did not directly predict daily STEM educational goals for either sample. Overall, the current work suggests that experiences of objectification communicate powerful messages that shape women’s and girls’ self-perceptions and What goals young Women should pursue. Discussion centers on the possibility of the current work to inform future interventions designed to increase the presence of young Women in STEM and other male-dominated domains. iii Dedication To Jake, for all the love you put into supporting and encouraging me. And to all the women in my life who have shaped me into the Woman I am today. iv Acknowledgements “It’s better to know how to learn than to know.” – Dr. Suess I am grateful to many people who supported me along this process and encouraged my learning. First and foremost, I would like to express my utmost gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Sarah Gervais, for her support. Beyond the guidance you provided me With to expand my theoretical and methodological knowledge as a scholar, I appreciate the ways in which you supported me to pursue my goals. Moreover, I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Ingrid Haas, Dr. Cynthia Willis-Esqueda, and Dr. Sue SWearer. I appreciate the guidance and insight each of you have provided me, and I have enjoyed our research and mentoring conversations as an all-female group. Additionally, I would like to thank other faculty that have played an important role in my development while at UNL. Thank you to Dr. Rich Wiener who taught me about collaboration as one of the first faculty collaborators I worked with at UNL, Dr. Mike Dodd who served on my thesis committee and continues to provide unique insight into my work, as well as Dr. Becca Brock whose guidance has helped me become a more confident statistician. I am also extremely grateful for my undergraduate advisor and role model, Dr. Stephenie Chaudoir. Thank you for all of your mentoring and guidance in helping me find my own ‘Sasha Fierce’ to help me pursue my ambitious goals. I would also like to thank the National Science Foundation for making it possible for me to rely on an exciting, yet costly, methodology of ecological momentary assessment. I am also thankful for the many friends I have met along this adventure that have made graduate school more exciting. A special thank you to collaborators turned friends, v Evan McCracken, Gemma Sáez, and Katlyn Farnum, for all the theoretical conversations, research guidance, and most importantly your friendship. Furthermore, thank you to my family. Thank you to my mum for all your love, my dad for alWays being proud of me, Lisa for encouraging my love of learning, Bob for encouraging my pursuit of neW experiences, Robb for alWays being a helping hand, my brother John for alWays giving me a good laugh, my extended family for continuously sending their love and support from Wisconsin, and my in-laws for alWays taking an interest in my schooling. I am also thankful for my fur children; Ferguson for laying by my feet on the nights I worked and Ez for reminding me to take breaks when I needed them. Most importantly, thank you to my loving husband and best friend, Jake. I appreciate all the ways you show me your love and support. Your encouragement has helped me through some of the biggest challenges and I am so thankful I have had you by my side through this journey and beyond. I am looking forward to seeing where our future takes us. vi Grant Information This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program under Grant No. 2015176603. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the vieWs of the National Science Foundation. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………….. II DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ IV GRANT INFORMATION .......................................................................................................... VI LIST OF MULTIMEDIA OBJECTS ........................................................................................ IX CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 WOMEN IN STEM ..................................................................................................................................................... 2 A problem of pursuit. ........................................................................................................................................... 3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................................... 4 SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Objectification and goals. .................................................................................................................................. 7 Objectification and self-objectification. ....................................................................................................... 9 Self-objectification, performance, and agency. ....................................................................................... 10 SELF-EFFICACY ........................................................................................................................................................ 12 Self-efficacy and STEM educational goals. .............................................................................................. 13 GOAL ADJUSTMENT ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Internalization of communality. .................................................................................................................... 16 Internalization of beauty. ................................................................................................................................. 18 CURRENT WORK AND HYPOTHESES ................................................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 2: METHOD ............................................................................................................