Women’s Self-Objectification Under Competition When They Believe Sex Is Power

Competitions are ubiquitous and their psychological consequences for women have not received sufficient attention. For this research, we tested whether competition, in either work settings or a broader form of competition for resources, would interact with the sex is power belief to result in self-objectification among women. This prediction was confirmed by a series of studies ( N = 1416), including correlational studies, a quasi-experiment, and fully controlled experiments, with samples including company employees, MBA students with work experience, college students currently competing in a job market, and Mechanical Turkers. Competition (or a sense of competition) as a feature of the working environment (Study 1), a real state in life (Study 2), or a temporarily activated state (Studies 3–5) resulted in self-objectification among women who believe sex is power (Study 1) or who enter such a mindset (Studies 2–5). This effect further impaired the pursuit of personal growth (Studies 4 and 5).