Women feel unsafe when objectified—but may still self-sexualize if the man is attractive or wealthy

Two studies conducted in China suggest that a sexually objectifying gaze from a male partner increases women’s safety-related anxiety, regardless of the partner’s attractiveness or socioeconomic status. However, this heightened anxiety did not reduce women’s tendency to self-sexualize when the partner was described as attractive or high in socioeconomic status. The findings were published in the Asian Journal of Social Psychology.

Self-sexualization refers to the act of presenting oneself in a sexually suggestive manner. Women may engage in this behavior to gain attention, approval, or social and economic advantages. Examples of self-sexualization include wearing revealing clothing, adopting provocative poses, or emphasizing sexual attractiveness in social media images. While some individuals view self-sexualization as a form of empowerment and personal expression, others argue that it may reinforce sexual objectification and harmful gender stereotypes.

Psychological research indicates that frequent self-sexualization tends to be associated with increased self-objectification—where individuals begin to view themselves primarily from an external or evaluative perspective. This mindset has been linked to negative outcomes such as body dissatisfaction, appearance-related anxiety, and impaired cognitive performance in certain contexts.

Cultural and media influences, particularly the widespread sexualization of women in advertising and entertainment, may increase the likelihood of self-sexualizing behavior. Still, individual motivations vary widely, from personal confidence and enjoyment to internalized social pressures.

Study authors Dingcheng Gu and Lijun Zheng set out to examine how safety anxiety triggered by sexual objectification might influence women’s self-sexualization choices in a romantic context. Specifically, they wanted to know whether the presence of objectifying behavior would deter women from self-sexualizing—and whether this effect would depend on the perceived attractiveness or socioeconomic status of the man engaging in the objectification. To investigate this, they conducted two experiments.

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In the first experiment, 147 heterosexual women between the ages of 18 and 25 were recruited from an urban Chinese university. Participants read a short scenario asking them to imagine being on a blind date with a man. The scenario varied along two dimensions: the man was described either as having high socioeconomic status (e.g., highly educated with a good income) or low socioeconomic status. Additionally, the scenario either included or omitted a sexually objectifying gaze. In the objectifying condition, participants were told: “As you chat, you notice that he seems distracted, and you feel that he is observing your body, his gaze wandering over you.”

After reading the scenario, participants were asked to choose between two dresses that varied in how revealing they were. This served as a behavioral measure of self-sexualization, with selection of the more revealing dress interpreted as a higher degree of self-sexualization. Participants also completed a questionnaire assessing their level of state safety anxiety—that is, how concerned they would feel for their personal safety in the imagined situation.

The second experiment followed a similar design with a new group of 181 heterosexual women in the same age range, also recruited from the same university. This time, the scenario manipulated the attractiveness of the male date instead of his socioeconomic status.

Across both studies, imagining a sexually objectifying gaze from the male date reliably increased participants’ reported safety anxiety. This effect occurred regardless of whether the man was described as attractive or not, or as high or low in socioeconomic status.

However, safety anxiety only translated into a reduction in self-sexualization when the man was described as unattractive or of low socioeconomic status. In those conditions, women were more likely to choose the less revealing dress. By contrast, when the man was described as attractive or high in status, women’s self-sexualization levels remained elevated—even though they still reported feeling anxious about their safety.

According to the authors, these findings suggest that women may weigh both safety concerns and potential benefits when making decisions about how to present themselves in contexts shaped by sexual objectification. As they write, “our female participants tended to take both safety and resources into account when making decisions about their sexual attractiveness under the culture of sexual objectification.”

The study adds to the growing body of research examining how women navigate objectification in social and romantic contexts, particularly when weighing competing incentives like risk avoidance and potential social or economic gain.

However, the researchers acknowledge several limitations. The study relied on imagined scenarios and self-report measures, which may not fully reflect real-world behavior. Participants might have responded differently in actual social situations. Additionally, because the sample consisted entirely of young Chinese women, the findings may not generalize to other age groups, cultures, or social contexts.

The paper, “Effects of sexually objectifying gaze on women’s self-sexualization in a mating context: The tradeoff between safety pursuit and resource pursuit,” was authored by Dingcheng Gu and Lijun Zheng.