A series of three studies found that women who are more prone to self-objectification tend to have reduced empathy, both affective and cognitive. These women were also more likely to experience self-dehumanization. In turn, self-dehumanization was associated with diminished theory-of-mind abilities—the capacity to understand that other people have their own thoughts, perceptions, and goals. The paper was published in Psychology of Women Quarterly.
Self-objectification is a psychological process in which individuals, especially women, view and evaluate themselves mainly in terms of how their bodies appear to others, rather than their abilities or internal qualities. Women who adopt this perspective often monitor their physical appearance, a behavior known as “self-surveillance.”
This habit leads them to compare themselves with cultural beauty standards, which are often unrealistic or unattainable. As a result, self-objectification is linked to body shame, as people judge themselves harshly for failing to meet these ideals. It can also heighten anxiety about how one’s body is perceived in social situations.
Over time, these pressures may contribute to disordered eating and depression. Sexual experiences can also be affected, as self-objectifying individuals often focus on how their body looks rather than on their sensations or satisfaction. Women high in self-objectification may feel pressure to conform to external evaluations, which can lower self-esteem and increase vulnerability to depression. The process is not only psychological but also social, reinforced by media, advertising, and interpersonal feedback.
Study author Gian Antonio Di Bernardo and his colleagues set out to examine whether self-objectification interferes with the ability to understand other people’s emotions and mental states. They hypothesized that women prone to self-objectification would show lower empathy, weaker theory-of-mind abilities, and a greater tendency toward self-dehumanization—the process by which individuals come to see themselves as less than fully human, denying their own dignity, agency, or worth.
The researchers conducted three studies. The first examined whether self-objectification was linked to decreased empathy. Participants were 226 heterosexual Italian women with an average age of 28. They completed an online survey that measured self-objectification (using the 14-item Self-Objectification Beliefs and Behaviors Scale), self-dehumanization, and empathy (via the Interpersonal Reactivity Index).
The second study repeated this procedure with a new sample of 336 heterosexual Italian women, who were slightly older, with an average age of 34. The third study also surveyed Italian heterosexual women but added an assessment of theory-of-mind abilities (the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test).
Results from the first two studies indicated that women more prone to self-objectification tended to report lower levels of empathy, including both cognitive empathy (perspective taking) and affective empathy (empathic concern). They also showed higher levels of self-dehumanization. A statistical model suggested that self-objectification may lead to self-dehumanization, which in turn predicts lower empathy.
The third study confirmed these findings and also showed that women who scored higher in self-dehumanization tended to have somewhat weaker theory-of-mind abilities. Although theory-of-mind performance was not directly associated with self-objectification, the researchers suggested that both may be indirectly linked through self-dehumanization.
“Taken together, our findings suggest that a dysfunctional body image may have detrimental effects not only internally (i.e., the denial of full humanity to oneself) but also externally (i.e., greater difficulty in understanding others’ emotional and mental states). These results underscore the urgent need to challenge self-objectification and promote a healthier, more authentic perception of self,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the links between self-objectification and empathy. However, it should be noted that all three studies were conducted on Italian women, mostly young. Results on other cultural and demographic groups might not be identical.
The paper “No Hard Feelings: The Role of Self-Objectification and Self-Dehumanization in Understanding Emotions and Mental States in Cisgender Heterosexual Women” was authored by Gian Antonio Di Bernardo, Chiara Pecini, Bianca Tallone, Giuseppe Raguso, and Luca Andrighetto.