Who objectifies girls on social media? the associations between ambivalent sexism and online objectification: A 13-month prospective study

Who objectifies girls on social media? the associations between ambivalent sexism and online objectification: A 13-month prospective study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Who objectifies girls on social media? the associations between ambivalent sexism and online objectification: A 13-month prospective study Yi-jun Luo, Jing-qiu Zhang, Qian Nie, Hong Chen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5851063/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 18 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Objectification has been linked to self-objectification and increased mental health risks, particularly among adolescent girls. While social media has grown increasingly popular in recent years, much remains unknown about who engages in online objectification behaviors on these platforms and the mechanisms underlying it. This study aimed to investigate the associations between ambivalent sexism, thin-ideal internalization and online objectification using a 13-month longitudinal design. A sample of 577 Chinese adolescents (aged 11–14 years; 270 girls, 307 boys) completed self-report measures at baseline (T1) and again at the 13-month follow-up (T2). Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that T1 benevolent sexism was associated with increased T2 thin-ideal internalization and T2 online objectification, yet no significant association was found between T1 online objectification and T2 thin-ideal internalization or T2 benevolent sexism. Additionally, thin-ideal internalization mediated the relationship between benevolent sexism and online objectification. These findings suggest that benevolent sexism may be a significant risk factor for adolescent objectification on social media. Targeted interventions aimed at reducing benevolent sexism could serve as effective strategies to mitigate online objectification and its negative impacts on adolescent girls. Humanities/Cultural and media studies Social science/Cultural and media studies Social science/Psychology Social science/Science technology and society Social media benevolent sexism thin-ideal internalization online objectification adolescents Figures Figure 1 1 Introduction Previous research has identified several specific situational antecedents of objectification among women, such as exposure to appearance-related comments (Chan et al., 2024 ; Maheux et al., 2024 ), fat talk (Mills & Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, 2018 ; Vally & Rehman, 2024 ; Warnick et al., 2022 ), interpersonal sexual objectification (Jiao et al., 2022 ), stranger harassment (Gouvernet et al., 2022 ), and mass media exposure (Chan et al., 2024 ; Niu et al., 2020 ). These forms of objectification encourage girls to adopt an objectified perspective of themselves, treating the self as objects evaluated primarily for appearance (i.e., self-objectification; Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997 ; Fredrickson et al., 2011 ; Slater & Tiggemann, 2002 ). Decades of research on objectification theory have documented its detrimental effects on women’s well-being, including reduced cognitive performance (Bek et al., 2024), lower subjective well-being (Cheng et al., 2022; Howard et al., 2024), and increased vulnerability to mental health issues such as depression (Lamp et al., 2019 ; Tang et al., 2024 ) and disordered eating (Jackson & Chen, 2015 ; Sheng et al., 2023 ). Online objectification refers to objectifying behaviors in online communication, such as positive and negative comments on appearance, discussions of girls’appearance, and objectifying evaluations focused on physical appearance (Luo et al., 2019 ). As social media has become increasingly popular in recent years, sharing selfies, or photos that showcase one’s self-image are particularly popular among females (Dhir, Pallesen, Torsheim, & Andreassen, 2016 ; Sorokowski et al., 2015 ). In engaging selfie-related activities, adolescent might engage in online objectification, both consciously and unconsciously. However, little is known about the individuals who engage in behaviors that objectify girls on social media. This study aims to address this critical, yet under-explored question. 1.1 Ambivalent Sexism and online objectification Ambivalent sexism theory distinguishes between benevolent sexism and hostile sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996; Whitley, 1999 ). Benevolent sexism appears nurturing, it imposes conditional expectations on women, such as elegance and conformity to beauty standards (Couch et al., 2016 ; Hopkins-Doyle et al., 2019 ; Salomon et al., 2015 ; Wollast et al., 2019 ). Though hostile sexism involves openly antagonistic attitudes toward women, while benevolent sexism refers to seemingly positive but patronizing attitudes that reinforce traditional gender roles. System justification theory suggests that people are motivated to defend, uphold, and rationalize existing social, economic, and political structures. This motivation manifests in forms like stereotyping, ideological beliefs, and attribution processes, occurring both implicitly (unconsciously) and explicitly. It is thought to fulfill underlying epistemic, existential, and relational needs. Thus people who benefit from benevolent sexism—such as receiving praise, protection, and assistance—often interpret these actions as evidence of goodwill and fairness. When these benefits are driven by appearance concerns, people tend to focus more on appearance-related information (Osborne et al., 2019 ) and are more likely to reinforce the system that dictates women should appear elegant and conform to certain body standards. This preoccupation with appearance fosters an objectifying environment, reducing individuals to physical attributes and functions rather than valuing their personal identity and psychological qualities (Bartky, 1990 ; Kaschak, 1992 ). Moreover, Herek and McLemore ( 2013 ) argue that expressions of prejudice can fulfill important psychological needs, such as securing social acceptance, affirming core values, and reducing anxiety or other negative emotions related to threats to self-esteem. When expressions of prejudice reinforce the system while meeting psychological needs, it becomes more understandable why individuals might engage in behaviors that further objectify others. Support for benevolent sexism can be influenced by perceived attitudes in relationships. A longitudinal study found that women are more likely to endorse benevolent sexism if they perceive it as offering respect and security within their relationships (Hammond et al., 2016 ). According to the theory of planned behavior, individuals who support benevolent sexism are more inclined to engage in objectification-related behaviors, such as focusing on their own and others' appearances, thus contributing to an objectifying environment. Social media provide a wide range of situations for online interpersonal sexual objectification (Luo et al., 2019 ), including positive/negative appearance-related comments, discussions about girls' appearances, and objectifying evaluations that emphasize physical appearance. Many individuals use social media to express their beliefs, values, and opinions. Objectifying behaviors are not merely competitive or negative; rather, they often arise from ostensibly positive intentions. Hostile sexism, on the other hand, is linked to social dominance orientation (SDO) (Bareket & Fiske, 2023 ) and is associated with competitive attitudes toward socially subordinate groups with lower power and status (Duckitt, 2006 ). Positive social comments are less likely to be driven by hostile sexism, as hostile sexism typically generates a range of negative, prejudicial attitudes rooted in competition with lower-status groups (Duckitt, 2006 ; Connor & Fiske, 2019 ). Therefore, we hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of benevolent sexism, but not hostile sexism, would engage in more online objectification. In cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), publicly acting in a way that contradicts an existing attitude (e.g., placing excessive focus on appearance) generates cognitive dissonance, prompting attitude changes (e.g., acceptance of the belief that women should be protected) that align more closely with the behavior. This feedback loop, where behavioral changes lead to cognitive adjustments, is a fundamental CBT concept (Bakker & Rickard, 2019 ). Research has shown that using mobile apps offering brief CBT strategies can improve mental health, indicating that consistent engagement in a particular behavior promotes cognitive acceptance of that behavior (Cusack et al., 2016 ; Cohen et al., 2012 ). Therefore, repeated objectifying behaviors may reinforce benevolent sexism beliefs, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. We hypothesized that individuals who endorse benevolent sexism are more likely to engage in online objectification, and that frequent engagement in these behaviors could, in turn, strengthen benevolent sexism attitudes. 1.2 Ambivalent Sexism and thin-ideal internalization The thin ideal, a societal rather than natural construct (Kidd et al., 2024 ), often equates thinness with positive traits like beauty and success( Robinson et al., 2017 ), while linking fatness with negative qualities. The belief that thinness equates to beauty is rooted in traditional gender roles emphasizing "male strength and female weakness" (Bank, 2020 ), making pursuit of the thin-ideal body type detrimental to resource competition. Benevolent sexism encourages women to actively uphold social norms that perpetuate their disadvantaged status. Since benevolent sexism praises women for warmth and purity while implying inferiority and dependence on men for protection, women may focus on areas that bring immediate social rewards and validation, counteracting feelings of incompetence and vulnerability. Women’s physical beauty is linked to tangible social rewards (Eagly et al., 1991 ). Both women and men link women’s attractiveness to positive life outcomes (Dellinger & Williams, 1997 ), highlighting that physical attractiveness acts as a form of currency for women (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997 ). Although focusing on appearance over competence undermines women’s self-determination (Breines, Crocker, & Garcia, 2008 ) and reinforces their disadvantaged social status, research shows that women endorsing benevolent sexism display stronger appearance-related attitudes and behaviors, such as increased cosmetic use (Forbes et al., 2004 ) and greater thin-ideal internalization (Forbes et al., 2007 ). By contrast, hostile sexism is driven by competitiveness and a desire to maintain male dominance over women (Bareket & Fiske, 2023 ), often aiming to undermine women's competence to reduce perceived threats to male dominance. Thus, individuals with hostile sexism would likely see appearance as a critical factor in resource competition. Overall, individuals endorsing hostile sexism are more inclined to view thinness as the ideal body shape for women, reinforcing male dominance through the perpetuation of the thin ideal. We hypothesize that individuals with higher levels of both benevolent sexism and hostile sexism will report greater thin-ideal internalization. Thin-ideal perceptions, rooted in traditional gender roles, reinforce gender hierarchies by encouraging women to compete based on appearance rather than competence. Adherence to Western beauty ideals is associated with hostility toward women (Forbes et al., 2007 ), which can manifest in competitive behaviors among women. For example, women who self-objectify are more likely to negatively criticize other women’s selfies (Cheng et al., 2024 ). This suggests that endorsing the thin ideal deepens involvement in appearance-based competition and integrates these values into one's beliefs, contributing to higher levels of both hostile sexism and benevolent sexism. Individuals who internalize the thin ideal equate thinness with beauty, using it as a measure of self-worth, and are more likely to display hostile sexism associated behaviors when they perceive a threat from others. For example, female viewers who believe other women have digitally modified their selfies and view these women as peers (not models) are more likely to evaluate them negatively, perceiving them as less intelligent or honest (Alleva et al., 2016 ). Conversely, when individuals see others who endorse the thin ideal as part of their in-group, they are more likely to show benevolent sexism related behaviors, such as offering praise and compliments. We hypothesize that individuals with thin-ideal internalization will exhibit higher levels of benevolent sexism. 1.3 Thin-ideal internalization and online objectification Individuals who internalize the thin ideal often tie their self-worth to being thin and attractive, equating thinness with beauty. Rieger et al. ( 2017 ) found that people who place high importance on their weight and shape are more likely to view and post thin-ideal images on social media. To uphold their sense of self-worth, individuals with internalized thin ideals may unconsciously objectify others. On social media, this is reflected in behaviors like positively engaging (e.g., liking and commenting) on images of individuals who conform to the thin ideal and developing negative attitudes toward those who do not. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), people who equate thinness with beauty are more inclined to post thin-ideal-oriented photos of themselves and to reinforce similar images from others. Internalizing the thin ideal leads individuals to incorporate these values into their personal belief systems, aligning their behaviors with the ideal (Uhlmann et al., 2020 ). This process increases both self-objectification and objectification of others. Vendemia and Fox ( 2024 ) found that women who viewed sexualized peers on social media were more likely to dehumanize (i.e., objectify) the women in these images. Analysis of participant hashtags revealed that those who saw sexualized peers engaged in greater appearance-based objectification, especially focused on body parts, compared to those who viewed non-sexualized peers. Similarly, Vangeel et al. ( 2022 ) demonstrated that teenagers involved in appearance-related conversations on Facebook were more likely to objectify their friends, with self-objectification mediating the relationship between television exposure and friend-objectification. Therefore, we hypothesized that thin-ideal internalization would be positively related to online objectification. Inducing individuals to focus excessively on appearance creates a paradoxical trap: it encourages continuous investment in their looks through tangible feedback, while simultaneously eroding their broader sense of self. This intensified focus reinforces thin-ideal internalization. Social media has been identified as a significant source of appearance-related stress (Roberts et al., 2022 ) and perpetuates the perception that "thin equals beautiful." Increased social media use has been linked to stronger adherence to ideal body stereotypes, including the thin ideal (Maftei & Merlici, 2023 ). Thus, we hypothesized that online objectification would be positively related to thin-ideal internalization. 1.4 The present study Adolescence is recognized as a critical period for the development of social values and appearance-related beliefs. A more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms by which hostile sexism and benevolent sexism contribute to online objectification behaviors could facilitate targeted interventions, especially during key developmental stages such as childhood and adolescence. Prospective research using larger, heterogeneous samples of youth is essential to establish more reliable temporal precedence and causality of these associations. This study examined the longitudinal associations over a 13-month interval (spanning across a new grade level) between benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification among adolescents. Specifically, it constructed separate cross-lagged models for two types of online objectification behaviors: Model 1 assessed bidirectional links among benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification; Model 2 tested bidirectional links between hostile sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification. Both models statistically controlled for all other constructs measured simultaneously, allowing the present research to explore the underlying temporal relationships among these variables. 2 Method 2.1 Participants and Procedure This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the researcher’s University (Project title: Sexism and Online Behaviors , IRB protocol 2019110701). Principals and class advisors of two Wuhan public middle schools in China were contacted and permitted the study. Each study phase took about 15 min to complete. Eligible students were those who were willing to undertake the study and who had obtained parental consents for the entire study. Those who met these criteria completed an informed consent outlining the study purpose (to investigate adolescent gender cognition and online behaviors), participant rights (e.g., right to withdraw at any time without penalty), and the time commitment as well as the measures described below. Student numbers were solicited to allow matching of Time 1 (T1) to Time 2 (T2) surveys of each participant while preserving anonymity in the data file. Although students were not compensated individually, after completing each assessment phase, participating schools received 1,000 CHY to support student learning. Participants completed a pencil-and-paper survey in a classroom setting. The questionnaire, described in the previous section, included demographic variables (age, gender and family monthly income) and ambivalent sexism, thin-ideal internalization and online objectification behaviors. Back-translated Mandarin language versions of the ambivalent sexism and thin-ideal internalization scale was based on past peer-reviewed studies of Chinese samples (Luo, Jackson, Stice & Chen, 2021 ; Zhang et al., 2024 ). The measure of online objectification was adapted from a previous study (Luo, Niu, Kong & Chen, 2019 ) and formally translated into Mandarin and back-translated into English by two fuent bilingual Mandarin–English speakers. The frst author and translators discussed discrepancies between translations and resolved these diferences based on consensus. This back-translation was then translated into an English version by a third bilingual translator. All translators independently indicated that derived item meanings were consistent with meanings from the original items. The initial assessment (T1) was conducted in November 2019 with 589 participants ( M_age = 12.89, SD = 0.64, range = 11–14 years). A follow-up assessment (T2) took place 13 months later, in December 2020, with 577 participants. The final sample included 577 adolescents (grades 7–9; 270 girls). Of the original 589 participants, 12 were lost to attrition (absent or unwilling to continue), and were excluded from final analyses. The final analytic sample comprised 307 boys and 270 girls. 2.2 Measures 2.2.1 Ambivalent Sexism Inventory The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1999 ) is a 22-item scale that assess both Benevolent Sexism and Hostile Sexism. Benevolent sexism includes 11 items (e.g., " Women should be cherished and protected by men "); Hostile sexism includes 11 items, (e.g., " Women are too easily offended " ). Responses are provided on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 ( strongly disagree ) to 5 ( strongly agree ). Internal consistency was acceptable, with Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.73 (T1) and 0.72 (T2) for benevolent sexism, and 0.74 (T1) and 0.73 (T2) for hostile sexism. 2.2.2 Thin-Ideal Internalization Thin-ideal internalization was assessed using the Ideal Body Stereotype Scale-Revised (IBSSR; Stice & Agras, 1998 ), a 10-item scale assessing the extent to which participants endorsed thinness as a defining feature of female attractiveness (e.g., “ Thin, tall, long legs ”). Responses were provided on a 5-point scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree ), with higher scores indicating stronger internalization. The IBSSR has demonstrated strong construct validity and internal consistency in prior research with Chinese adolescents (Cronbach’s α = 0.85; Jackson & Chen, 2011 ). In the present study, the scale exhibited high internal consistency (α = 0.98 at both T1 and T2). 2.2.3 Online Objectification Online objectification were assessed using the Online Objectification Scale, a 7-item measure adapted from Luo et al. ( 2019 ). Items evaluated participants’ tendency to emphasize appearance in online interactions (e.g., “How often have you expressed the importance of appearance and body size during online communication?” ; see Appendix). Responses were recorded on a 5-point scale (1 = never to 5 = always ), with higher scores indicating greater engagement in online objectification. We performed a confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to assess whether a 7-item single factor model was appropriate. Uniformly adequate fits supported the model, RMSEA = 0.067, χ(10) 2 =3.60, CFI = 0.987, TLI = 0.973, SRMR = 0.017. in the present study, the internal consistency was strong (Cronbach’s α = 0.90 at T1 and 0.88 at T2). 2.2.4 Data Analysis Cross-lagged panel models were conducted using path analysis in Mplus 7.0. Cross-lagged analysis leverages longitudinal data to examine reciprocal causality among a set of constructs (Kenny, 1975 ). Separate models were estimated for each of the two types of sexism. In Model 1, the Time 1 (T1) constructs of benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification were allowed to simultaneously predict the same constructs assessed at Time 2 (T2, 13-month follow-up). Model 2 followed the same structure, with hostile sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification at T1 and T2. Consistent with Anderson & Williams ( 1992 ), exogenous variables at T1 were allowed to correlate, as were endogenous variables at T2. After obtaining optimal model fit indices, each model's specific paths were scrutinized. Cross-lagged models contain three types of relationships (Orth et al., 2024 ): (1) Synchronous correlations , which are the non-directional associations between two constructs assessed at the same time point (e.g., T1 benevolent sexism and T1 thin-ideal internalization); (2) Temporal stability or autoregression, where the same construct assessed at one time point predicts its subsequent measurement (e.g., T1 benevolent sexism to T2 thin-ideal internalization), controlling for all other lagged antecedents; (3) Cross-lagged paths , which reflect the predictive relationships between two conceptually distinct constructs assessed at different time points (e.g., T1 hostile sexism to T2 thin-ideal internalization), and are key to evaluating the research hypotheses. After accounting for the temporal history of all constructs, these paths indicate whether explanatory relationships remain. To test the mediation model, PROCESS (Hayes, 2012; Model 4) was employed within hierarchical multiple regression analyses, with bootstrap analysis used to generate 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals based on 2000 resamples of the data. Following Burton et al. ( 2013 ) in their longitudinal mediation analysis approach, T1 benevolent sexism/hostile sexism was treated as the predictor, T2 online objectification behaviors as the criterion measure, and T2 thin-ideal internalization was hypothesized to mediate this relationship. 3 Results 3.1 Descriptive Statistics Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations, and correlation matrix for all study variables. Significant correlations were observed both within and across measurement waves. The weak correlation between benevolent sexism and hostile sexism supports their evaluation as distinct constructs. Correlation analyses indicated that age was was unrelated to any key variables. Benevolent sexism was positively associated with both thin-ideal internalization and online objectification, whereas hostile sexism was not associated with thin-ideal internalization and was negatively associated with online objectification. Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlation Matrix of Variables (girls = 270, boys = 307). Variable Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 age 12.89 0.64 — 2 gender — — −.05 — 3 T1 BS 32.57 6.66 .04 .22 *** — 4 T2 BS 33.40 6.24 .08 .11 ** .39 *** — 5 T1 HS 30.31 6.38 .01 −.33 *** −.03 .01 — 6 T2 HS 29.96 6.33 .00 −.37 *** −.19 *** −.10 * .33 *** — 7 T1 TI 28.80 11.13 .07 .15 *** .30 *** .17 *** .06 −.06 — 8 T2 TI 31.23 10.77 .02 .11 ** .22 *** .20 *** .08 .01 .37 *** — 9 T1 OO 9.66 4.69 .04 .22 *** .31 *** .15 *** .01 −.07 .31 *** .12 ** — 10 T2 OO 10.32 4.58 .03 .24 *** .26 *** .26 *** −.07 −.12 ** .24 *** .28 *** .37 *** Note. BS = Benevolent Sexism, HS = Hostile Sexism, TI = Thin-ideal internalization, OO = Online Objectification. * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001. 3.2 Cross-Lagged Panel Models The cross-lagged panel model for benevolent sexism predicting online objectification revealed strong fit indices: χ (665)² = 1.67, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.034, CFI = 0.967, TLI = 0.963, SRMR = 0.054. After controlling for age, gender and family income, T1 benevolent sexism ( β = 0.13, p = 0.002) significantly predicted T2 thin-ideal internalization, while T1 thin-ideal internalization did not predict T2 benevolent sexism ( β = 0.05, p = 0.308). The T1 measure of thin-ideal internalization ( β = 0.12, p = 0.008) contributed to a greater level of T2 online objectification, whereas T1 online objectification did not predict T2 thin-ideal internalization ( β = -0.06, p = 0.223). Results also showed that T1 benevolent sexism ( β = 0.13, p = 0.003) forecasted greater online objectification at T2, but T1 online objectification did not significantly predict benevolent sexism at T2 ( β = 0.01, p = 0.847). Overall, this model indicated a one-way prediction of online objectification by benevolent sexism (see Fig. 1 a). To further investigate the relationship between T1 benevolent sexism and T2 online objectification, we conducted a mediation analysis within the cross-lagged panel model, results indicated that benevolent sexism significantly predicted online objectification through the mediating role of thin-ideal internalization, the indirect effect was 0.001, 95%CI[0.001, 0.002], p < 0.001. The cross-lagged panel model for hostile sexism predicting online objectification also revealed strong fit indices: χ (665)² = 1.79, p < 0.001, RMSEA = 0.037, CFI = 0.961, TLI = 0.957, SRMR = 0.056. After controlling for age and gender, T1 hostile sexism ( β = 0.08, p = 0.052) did not significantly predict T2 thin-ideal internalization, and T1 thin-ideal internalization did not predict T2 hostile sexism ( β = -0.01, p = 0.796). The T1 measure of thin-ideal internalization ( β = 0.15, p = 0.001) contributed to a greater level of T2 online objectification, while T1 online objectification did not predict T2 thin-ideal internalization ( β = -0.04, p = 0.396). Results also showed that T1 hostile sexism forecasted greater online objectification at T2 ( β = -0.01, p = 0.796), but T1 online objectification did not significantly predict hostile sexism at T2 ( β = -0.04, p = 0.429) (see Fig. 1 b). 4 Discussion This study advances research on benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, and online objectification by examining their longitudinal interrelationships over a 13-month period using cross-lagged panel analyses in a large adolescent sample. Our findings indicate a significant longitudinal effect of baseline benevolent sexism on online objectification, demonstrating a one-directional predictive relationship. Notably, benevolent sexism predicted later online objectification, whereas online objectification did not reciprocally influence benevolent sexism. 4.1 Benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification Our findings support the hypothesis that individuals who endorse benevolent sexism are more likely to internalize the thin ideal (Forbes et al., 2007 ) and engage in online objectification behaviors. These factors—benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification—appear to be linked by the social emphasis on appearance. Prior research indicates that women often associate thinness with a positive, successful life (Evans, 2003 ), and exposure to thin-ideal imagery increases the desire to be thin (Rochelle & Hu, 2017 ). Similarly, exposure to beauty images, including the thin ideal, is associated with greater self-objectification (Alleva et al., 2024 ). Our study extends these findings by demonstrating that society’s prioritization of appearance not only fosters self-objectification but also encourages individuals to objectify others. Notably, this process is more strongly linked to benevolent sexism than hostile sexism underscoring a unique role for benevolent sexism in shaping objectifying environments (Bareket & Fiske, 2023 ; Duckitt et al., 2010 ). We also found that individuals with high levels of benevolent sexism engage in more online objectifying behaviors, with thin-ideal internalization as a mediating factor. Although women are often the primary victims of objectifying environments, both men and women can contribute to objectifying environments. Numerous studies have shown that exposure to objectifying environments increases self-objectification, especially among women (Bachner-Melman et al., 2024; Daniels et al., 2020 ; Vendemia & Fox, 2024 ). This suggests that individuals endorsing benevolent sexism may unknowingly reinforce objectifying environments, thereby perpetuating women’s self-objectification. Although some online objectifying behaviors, such as complimenting someone’s appearance, may originate from positive intentions, they are often more readily accepted, thereby sustaining an environment that fosters objectification. Ramati-Ziber et al. ( 2020 ) propose that societal prescriptive norms pressure women to pursue beauty intensively, a notion that aligns with sexist attitudes. This suggests that the drive to meet beauty ideals is influenced by internalizing the thin ideal (or other beauty ideals). However, our findings diverge from Xiao and Wang ( 2021 ), who found that women’s objectification mediates the relationship between beauty ideals and sexist attitudes, with this effect being stronger among lesbian and bisexual women than heterosexual women. This discrepancy may stem from their focus on sexual objectification—where women are primarily viewed as sex objects—while our research focuses on appearance-related objectification, especially behaviors perceived as expressions of goodwill. These distinctions imply that different objectifying behaviors serve distinct functions and may governed by separate mechanisms. For example, appearance-related objectification behaviors may be more closely linked to benevolent sexism, leading women to engage in appearance-management behaviors (Calogero & Jost, 2011 ), whereas hostile sexism may be more strongly related to sexual harassment and competitive gender dynamics (Belmonte et al., 2024 ; Dondzilo et al., 2023 ; Fox & Vendemia, 2016 ). methodological differences—such as our use of longitudinal data compared to previous studies relying on cross-sectional data—may contribute to these discrepancies. Cross-lagged analyses indicate that benevolent sexism drives both thin-ideal internalization and online objectification. This insight deepens our understanding of the interactions between benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification, suggesting that benevolent sexism is a critical antecedent that fosters both self-objectification and the objectification of others. Thus, thin-ideal internalization and online objectification can be viewed as manifestations of benevolent sexism, which helps to perpetuate a socially objectifying climate (Bareket & Fiske, 2023 ). Another important finding is that thin-ideal internalization and online objectifying behaviors do not predict benevolent sexism, suggesting that benevolent sexism is shaped by broader societal attitudes and remains relatively stable over time. For individuals who internalize the thin ideal, engaging in online objectifying behaviors—such as offering compliments on appearance—appears to be more aligned with benevolent sexism than hostile sexism. In summary, our findings indicate that benevolent sexism, rather than hostile sexism, predicts increased online objectification behaviors, with thin-ideal internalization serving as a mediating factor. Benevolent sexism fosters the belief that “thin equals beautiful”, influencing women’s self-perceptions and behaviors in multifaceted ways. Notably, thin-ideal internalization leads to online objectification within benevolent sexism, while other studies have linked thin-ideal internalization to hostile sexism-related behaviors (Forbes et al., 2007 ) or other problematic outcomes (Hawkins et al., 2004 ; Knobloch-Westerwick & Crane, 2012 ; Tylka et al., 2015 ). These variations likely stem from differences in the types of objectifying behaviors examined, suggesting that appearance-related and sexual objectification operate through distinct psychological mechanisms. 4.2 Hostile Sexism, Thin-Ideal Internalization, and Online Objectification We found that hostile sexism does not predict online objectification behaviors. This finding may be explained by the nature of hostile sexism, which involves negative attitudes toward women (Duckitt, 2006 ) that do not manifest in positive expressions, such as well-intentioned comments and likes in online settings. Contrary to prior studies, our results show that individuals who engage in online objectification behaviors do not exhibit higher levels of hostile sexism (Bareket & Fiske, 2023 ; LaCroix et al., 2018 ). This discrepancy may be attributed to the focus of previous research on sexual objectification (Xiao & Wang, 2021 ), which suggests that different mechanisms underlie objectifying behaviors. Interestingly, our findings did not support the expected link between hostile sexism and thin-ideal internalization, wherein individuals endorsing hostile sexism would also internalize thin ideals (Forbes et al., 2007 ). In fact, prior research by Forbes et al. ( 2004 , 2005 ) similarly found that benevolent sexism, rather than hostile sexism, has a stronger correlation with thin-ideal internalization. This suggests that benevolent sexism aligns more closely with appearance-related values. One possible explanation for this is that hostile sexism primarily targets issues related to social rights and workplace dynamics rather than body image. For instance, hostile sexism often manifests through the exclusion of women from competitive environments, questioning their capabilities (Bareket & Fiske, 2023 ), assigning blame for mishaps (Skinner et al., 2015 ), and promoting negative attitudes toward female leadership (Wetzler et al., 2024 ) and income equality (Conner & Fiske, 2019). In terms of body image, individuales who support hostile sexism may exclude perceived competitive threats rather than internalizing thin ideals or participating in online objectification (Duckitt, 2006 ). Research indicates that those who aspire to the thin ideal and exhibit competitive traits are more likely to develop eating disorders (Schleien & Bardone-Cone, 2016 ). Hostile sexism, on the other hand, may emerge when individuals perceive a threat to their status, as evidenced by negative evaluations of women who modify selfies (Vendemia, 2018 ) or expressions of hostility toward peer selfies (Cheng et al., 2024 ). Overall, our findings suggest that the harmful effects of hostile sexism may extend beyond appearance-related concerns, undermining both women's competence and their perceived attractiveness. This warrants further exploration of its broader impact. 4.3 Limitations and Future Research Directions This study has several limitations. First, the analysis relied on data collected at only two time points to examine the mediation model of benevolent and hostile sexism on online objectification behaviors. The limited temporal scope reduces the reliability of conclusions drawn about longitudinal trends. To gain a more robust understanding of these relationships over time, future research should incorporate data from at least three time points. Second, while focusing on early adolescents allows for an investigation of the early onset and development of sexism, it also presents certain limitations. For instance, the relatively low levels of hostile sexism within this demographic may skew the data structure, potentially influencing the results. Future studies should extend the sample to include late adolescents and adults, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of these constructs across different age groups. Lastly, the online objectification questionnaire used in this study was developed specifically for this research. While it captures common objectification-related behaviors on social media, it does not encompass potentially harmful behaviors such as sexual harassment (Russell & Trigg, 2004 ; Waubert de Puiseau & Roessel, 2013) or teasing (Hack, 2020). This limitation may explain the lack of a clear correlation between hostile sexism and online objectifying behaviors in our study. Future research should include these additional behaviors to further explore the relationship between hostile sexism and online objectification. Declarations Author Contribution Dr. Yi-jun Luo: Conceptualization; Data Curation; Formal Analysis; Investigation; Methodology; Supervision; Writing-Original Draft; Writing-Review & EditingMiss Jing-qiu Zhang: Investigation; Writing-Review & EditingDr. Qian Nie: Writing-Review & Editing; MethodologyDr. Hong Chen: Funding Acquisition; Supervision Data Availability Data is provided within the manuscript or supplementary information files. References Alleva JM, Grünjes C, Coenen L, Custers M, Vester P, Stutterheim SE (2024) A randomized controlled trial investigating two protective filtering strategies to mitigate the effects of beauty-ideal media imagery on women’s body image. 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Health Commun 3:1–10 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5851063","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":406144625,"identity":"0a31d858-983e-4ebb-8301-e755fd41053d","order_by":0,"name":"Yi-jun Luo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"School of psychology, Southwest University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yi-jun","middleName":"","lastName":"Luo","suffix":""},{"id":406144626,"identity":"fc692762-e6ad-48b7-8e46-9c5f3aa92632","order_by":1,"name":"Jing-qiu Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"School of psychology, Southwest University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jing-qiu","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":406144627,"identity":"e6e842dc-01b4-42c3-8046-e0312f726b59","order_by":2,"name":"Qian Nie","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"School of Journalism and Communication, Research Center of Mental Health Education, Southwest University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qian","middleName":"","lastName":"Nie","suffix":""},{"id":406144628,"identity":"dda54a2b-1a68-47bc-8bdf-878dc9bd7b9c","order_by":3,"name":"Hong Chen","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAv0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJCCD4wNDAwG7I2NDz8QqYNxBlgLz+FmYwnStEiktwnwEKPeXPrwwYafO2zyzCUftjFIMNjJ6TYQ0GLZl5bY2HsmrdhydmLbgwKGZGOzAwS0GJzhMX/M2HY4ccPtxHYDCYYDiduI0GLYzNj2P3HDzYNtEjwkaDmQuOEGI5FaLHvYgH5pS07ccCYRGMgGRPjFnIcZGGJtdokbjh9/+PBDhZ0cYe/j5RKjZRSMglEwCkYBFgAAG5RHhJqeAOQAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"School of psychology, Southwest University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hong","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-17 17:38:19","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5851063/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5851063/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07254-4","type":"published","date":"2026-04-18T15:56:59+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":74956169,"identity":"65797d55-3fae-4996-81ce-3a8ce871176d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-28 17:36:48","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":39024,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e(a) Cross-lagged model of BS, TI and OO; (b) Cross-lagged model of HS, TI and OO. BS = Benevolent Sexism, HS = Hostile Sexism, TI = Thin-ideal Internalization, OO = Online Objectification.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5851063/v1/50e7260e9c4c547a2b573cff.png"},{"id":107351890,"identity":"1e791adb-2b03-4325-8f48-ba38a4d0d929","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-20 16:12:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":464580,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5851063/v1/31f6a3b9-3263-4a32-b1d9-05e009f98053.pdf"},{"id":74956170,"identity":"7dab0627-b73e-482a-ba6a-8a2eb5b1b948","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-28 17:36:48","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":13679,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Appendix.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5851063/v1/410357b7edd386a58ac8b72e.docx"},{"id":74956848,"identity":"19d128c2-7cea-4968-bf9d-699d329bd992","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-28 17:44:48","extension":"sav","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":209757,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"20192020sexism.sav","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5851063/v1/153329e02d0287fd3eb5f470.sav"},{"id":74956173,"identity":"30ed9e74-03b3-46cf-ae38-00678841cdcb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-28 17:36:48","extension":"inp","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":760,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"20192020CLPMbs.inp","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5851063/v1/8f47298e12d1553c66515a2a.inp"},{"id":74956849,"identity":"867f7aab-4978-4d59-9f1d-300ccc100f4d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-28 17:44:48","extension":"inp","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":760,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"20192020CLPMhs.inp","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5851063/v1/07e95610004d77e3d8930d22.inp"},{"id":74956852,"identity":"22c385bc-9322-4120-be2f-c17e741877d4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-28 17:44:48","extension":"txt","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":114821,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"bsmediation.txt","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5851063/v1/9a0761c11d88b0bcd18d4358.txt"},{"id":74956182,"identity":"f0555ce7-801d-4560-9a11-f4fbffaaadf1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-28 17:36:48","extension":"txt","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":114821,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"hsmediation.txt","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5851063/v1/44d5ffe444163c7e0793e5c2.txt"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Who objectifies girls on social media? the associations between ambivalent sexism and online objectification: A 13-month prospective study","fulltext":[{"header":"1 Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003ePrevious research has identified several specific situational antecedents of objectification among women, such as exposure to appearance-related comments (Chan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Maheux et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e), fat talk (Mills \u0026amp; Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Vally \u0026amp; Rehman, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR78\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Warnick et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR83\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), interpersonal sexual objectification (Jiao et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), stranger harassment (Gouvernet et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), and mass media exposure (Chan et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Niu et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR55\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). These forms of objectification encourage girls to adopt an objectified perspective of themselves, treating the self as objects evaluated primarily for appearance (i.e., self-objectification; Fredrickson \u0026amp; Roberts, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1997\u003c/span\u003e; Fredrickson et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e; Slater \u0026amp; Tiggemann, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR69\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e). Decades of research on objectification theory have documented its detrimental effects on women\u0026rsquo;s well-being, including reduced cognitive performance (Bek et al., 2024), lower subjective well-being (Cheng et al., 2022; Howard et al., 2024), and increased vulnerability to mental health issues such as depression (Lamp et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Tang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR74\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) and disordered eating (Jackson \u0026amp; Chen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Sheng et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR67\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Online objectification refers to objectifying behaviors in online communication, such as positive and negative comments on appearance, discussions of girls\u0026rsquo;appearance, and objectifying evaluations focused on physical appearance (Luo et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). As social media has become increasingly popular in recent years, sharing selfies, or photos that showcase one\u0026rsquo;s self-image are particularly popular among females (Dhir, Pallesen, Torsheim, \u0026amp; Andreassen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Sorokowski et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR70\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). In engaging selfie-related activities, adolescent might engage in online objectification, both consciously and unconsciously. However, little is known about the individuals who engage in behaviors that objectify girls on social media. This study aims to address this critical, yet under-explored question.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec2\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e1.1 Ambivalent Sexism and online objectification\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAmbivalent sexism theory distinguishes between benevolent sexism and hostile sexism (Glick \u0026amp; Fiske, 1996; Whitley, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR86\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e). Benevolent sexism appears nurturing, it imposes conditional expectations on women, such as elegance and conformity to beauty standards (Couch et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Hopkins-Doyle et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Salomon et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR65\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Wollast et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR87\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Though hostile sexism involves openly antagonistic attitudes toward women, while benevolent sexism refers to seemingly positive but patronizing attitudes that reinforce traditional gender roles.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSystem justification theory suggests that people are motivated to defend, uphold, and rationalize existing social, economic, and political structures. This motivation manifests in forms like stereotyping, ideological beliefs, and attribution processes, occurring both implicitly (unconsciously) and explicitly. It is thought to fulfill underlying epistemic, existential, and relational needs. Thus people who benefit from benevolent sexism\u0026mdash;such as receiving praise, protection, and assistance\u0026mdash;often interpret these actions as evidence of goodwill and fairness. When these benefits are driven by appearance concerns, people tend to focus more on appearance-related information (Osborne et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR57\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) and are more likely to reinforce the system that dictates women should appear elegant and conform to certain body standards.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis preoccupation with appearance fosters an objectifying environment, reducing individuals to physical attributes and functions rather than valuing their personal identity and psychological qualities (Bartky, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1990\u003c/span\u003e; Kaschak, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1992\u003c/span\u003e). Moreover, Herek and McLemore (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) argue that expressions of prejudice can fulfill important psychological needs, such as securing social acceptance, affirming core values, and reducing anxiety or other negative emotions related to threats to self-esteem. When expressions of prejudice reinforce the system while meeting psychological needs, it becomes more understandable why individuals might engage in behaviors that further objectify others.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSupport for benevolent sexism can be influenced by perceived attitudes in relationships. A longitudinal study found that women are more likely to endorse benevolent sexism if they perceive it as offering respect and security within their relationships (Hammond et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). According to the theory of planned behavior, individuals who support benevolent sexism are more inclined to engage in objectification-related behaviors, such as focusing on their own and others' appearances, thus contributing to an objectifying environment. Social media provide a wide range of situations for online interpersonal sexual objectification (Luo et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e), including positive/negative appearance-related comments, discussions about girls' appearances, and objectifying evaluations that emphasize physical appearance. Many individuals use social media to express their beliefs, values, and opinions. Objectifying behaviors are not merely competitive or negative; rather, they often arise from ostensibly positive intentions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHostile sexism, on the other hand, is linked to social dominance orientation (SDO) (Bareket \u0026amp; Fiske, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e) and is associated with competitive attitudes toward socially subordinate groups with lower power and status (Duckitt, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e). Positive social comments are less likely to be driven by hostile sexism, as hostile sexism typically generates a range of negative, prejudicial attitudes rooted in competition with lower-status groups (Duckitt, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e; Connor \u0026amp; Fiske, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, we hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of benevolent sexism, but not hostile sexism, would engage in more online objectification.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), publicly acting in a way that contradicts an existing attitude (e.g., placing excessive focus on appearance) generates cognitive dissonance, prompting attitude changes (e.g., acceptance of the belief that women should be protected) that align more closely with the behavior. This feedback loop, where behavioral changes lead to cognitive adjustments, is a fundamental CBT concept (Bakker \u0026amp; Rickard, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Research has shown that using mobile apps offering brief CBT strategies can improve mental health, indicating that consistent engagement in a particular behavior promotes cognitive acceptance of that behavior (Cusack et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Cohen et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). Therefore, repeated objectifying behaviors may reinforce benevolent sexism beliefs, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. We hypothesized that individuals who endorse benevolent sexism are more likely to engage in online objectification, and that frequent engagement in these behaviors could, in turn, strengthen benevolent sexism attitudes.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e1.2 Ambivalent Sexism and thin-ideal internalization\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe thin ideal, a societal rather than natural construct (Kidd et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e), often equates thinness with positive traits like beauty and success( Robinson et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR62\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e), while linking fatness with negative qualities. The belief that thinness equates to beauty is rooted in traditional gender roles emphasizing \"male strength and female weakness\" (Bank, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e), making pursuit of the thin-ideal body type detrimental to resource competition. Benevolent sexism encourages women to actively uphold social norms that perpetuate their disadvantaged status. Since benevolent sexism praises women for warmth and purity while implying inferiority and dependence on men for protection, women may focus on areas that bring immediate social rewards and validation, counteracting feelings of incompetence and vulnerability. Women\u0026rsquo;s physical beauty is linked to tangible social rewards (Eagly et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1991\u003c/span\u003e). Both women and men link women\u0026rsquo;s attractiveness to positive life outcomes (Dellinger \u0026amp; Williams, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1997\u003c/span\u003e), highlighting that physical attractiveness acts as a form of currency for women (Fredrickson \u0026amp; Roberts, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1997\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlthough focusing on appearance over competence undermines women\u0026rsquo;s self-determination (Breines, Crocker, \u0026amp; Garcia, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2008\u003c/span\u003e) and reinforces their disadvantaged social status, research shows that women endorsing benevolent sexism display stronger appearance-related attitudes and behaviors, such as increased cosmetic use (Forbes et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e) and greater thin-ideal internalization (Forbes et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). By contrast, hostile sexism is driven by competitiveness and a desire to maintain male dominance over women (Bareket \u0026amp; Fiske, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), often aiming to undermine women's competence to reduce perceived threats to male dominance. Thus, individuals with hostile sexism would likely see appearance as a critical factor in resource competition. Overall, individuals endorsing hostile sexism are more inclined to view thinness as the ideal body shape for women, reinforcing male dominance through the perpetuation of the thin ideal. We hypothesize that individuals with higher levels of both benevolent sexism and hostile sexism will report greater thin-ideal internalization.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThin-ideal perceptions, rooted in traditional gender roles, reinforce gender hierarchies by encouraging women to compete based on appearance rather than competence. Adherence to Western beauty ideals is associated with hostility toward women (Forbes et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e), which can manifest in competitive behaviors among women. For example, women who self-objectify are more likely to negatively criticize other women\u0026rsquo;s selfies (Cheng et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). This suggests that endorsing the thin ideal deepens involvement in appearance-based competition and integrates these values into one's beliefs, contributing to higher levels of both hostile sexism and benevolent sexism.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndividuals who internalize the thin ideal equate thinness with beauty, using it as a measure of self-worth, and are more likely to display hostile sexism associated behaviors when they perceive a threat from others. For example, female viewers who believe other women have digitally modified their selfies and view these women as peers (not models) are more likely to evaluate them negatively, perceiving them as less intelligent or honest (Alleva et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Conversely, when individuals see others who endorse the thin ideal as part of their in-group, they are more likely to show benevolent sexism related behaviors, such as offering praise and compliments. We hypothesize that individuals with thin-ideal internalization will exhibit higher levels of benevolent sexism.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e1.3 Thin-ideal internalization and online objectification\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndividuals who internalize the thin ideal often tie their self-worth to being thin and attractive, equating thinness with beauty. Rieger et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR60\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e) found that people who place high importance on their weight and shape are more likely to view and post thin-ideal images on social media. To uphold their sense of self-worth, individuals with internalized thin ideals may unconsciously objectify others. On social media, this is reflected in behaviors like positively engaging (e.g., liking and commenting) on images of individuals who conform to the thin ideal and developing negative attitudes toward those who do not.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), people who equate thinness with beauty are more inclined to post thin-ideal-oriented photos of themselves and to reinforce similar images from others. Internalizing the thin ideal leads individuals to incorporate these values into their personal belief systems, aligning their behaviors with the ideal (Uhlmann et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR77\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). This process increases both self-objectification and objectification of others. Vendemia and Fox (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR81\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) found that women who viewed sexualized peers on social media were more likely to dehumanize (i.e., objectify) the women in these images. Analysis of participant hashtags revealed that those who saw sexualized peers engaged in greater appearance-based objectification, especially focused on body parts, compared to those who viewed non-sexualized peers. Similarly, Vangeel et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR79\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) demonstrated that teenagers involved in appearance-related conversations on Facebook were more likely to objectify their friends, with self-objectification mediating the relationship between television exposure and friend-objectification. Therefore, we hypothesized that thin-ideal internalization would be positively related to online objectification.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInducing individuals to focus excessively on appearance creates a paradoxical trap: it encourages continuous investment in their looks through tangible feedback, while simultaneously eroding their broader sense of self. This intensified focus reinforces thin-ideal internalization. Social media has been identified as a significant source of appearance-related stress (Roberts et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR61\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) and perpetuates the perception that \"thin equals beautiful.\" Increased social media use has been linked to stronger adherence to ideal body stereotypes, including the thin ideal (Maftei \u0026amp; Merlici, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Thus, we hypothesized that online objectification would be positively related to thin-ideal internalization.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e1.4 The present study\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAdolescence is recognized as a critical period for the development of social values and appearance-related beliefs. A more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms by which hostile sexism and benevolent sexism contribute to online objectification behaviors could facilitate targeted interventions, especially during key developmental stages such as childhood and adolescence. Prospective research using larger, heterogeneous samples of youth is essential to establish more reliable temporal precedence and causality of these associations.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study examined the longitudinal associations over a 13-month interval (spanning across a new grade level) between benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification among adolescents. Specifically, it constructed separate cross-lagged models for two types of online objectification behaviors: Model 1 assessed bidirectional links among benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification; Model 2 tested bidirectional links between hostile sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification. Both models statistically controlled for all other constructs measured simultaneously, allowing the present research to explore the underlying temporal relationships among these variables.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"2 Method","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1 Participants and Procedure\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee at the researcher\u0026rsquo;s University (Project title: \u003cem\u003eSexism and Online Behaviors\u003c/em\u003e, IRB protocol 2019110701). Principals and class advisors of two Wuhan public middle schools in China were contacted and permitted the study. Each study phase took about 15 min to complete. Eligible students were those who were willing to undertake the study and who had obtained parental consents for the entire study. Those who met these criteria completed an informed consent outlining the study purpose (to investigate adolescent gender cognition and online behaviors), participant rights (e.g., right to withdraw at any time without penalty), and the time commitment as well as the measures described below. Student numbers were solicited to allow matching of Time 1 (T1) to Time 2 (T2) surveys of each participant while preserving anonymity in the data file. Although students were not compensated individually, after completing each assessment phase, participating schools received 1,000 CHY to support student learning.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eParticipants completed a pencil-and-paper survey in a classroom setting. The questionnaire, described in the previous section, included demographic variables (age, gender and family monthly income) and ambivalent sexism, thin-ideal internalization and online objectification behaviors. Back-translated Mandarin language versions of the ambivalent sexism and thin-ideal internalization scale was based on past peer-reviewed studies of Chinese samples (Luo, Jackson, Stice \u0026amp; Chen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Zhang et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR89\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). The measure of online objectification was adapted from a previous study (Luo, Niu, Kong \u0026amp; Chen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e) and formally translated into Mandarin and back-translated into English by two fuent bilingual Mandarin\u0026ndash;English speakers. The frst author and translators discussed discrepancies between translations and resolved these diferences based on consensus. This back-translation was then translated into an English version by a third bilingual translator. All translators independently indicated that derived item meanings were consistent with meanings from the original items. The initial assessment (T1) was conducted in November 2019 with 589 participants (\u003cem\u003eM_age\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;12.89, \u003cem\u003eSD\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.64, range\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;11\u0026ndash;14 years). A follow-up assessment (T2) took place 13 months later, in December 2020, with 577 participants. The final sample included 577 adolescents (grades 7\u0026ndash;9; 270 girls). Of the original 589 participants, 12 were lost to attrition (absent or unwilling to continue), and were excluded from final analyses. The final analytic sample comprised 307 boys and 270 girls.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2 Measures\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.1 Ambivalent Sexism Inventory\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick \u0026amp; Fiske, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e) is a 22-item scale that assess both Benevolent Sexism and Hostile Sexism. Benevolent sexism includes 11 items (e.g., \"\u003cem\u003eWomen should be cherished and protected by men\u003c/em\u003e\"); Hostile sexism includes 11 items, (e.g., \"\u003cem\u003eWomen are too easily offended\u003c/em\u003e\" ). Responses are provided on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (\u003cem\u003estrongly disagree\u003c/em\u003e) to 5 (\u003cem\u003estrongly agree\u003c/em\u003e). Internal consistency was acceptable, with Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s alpha values of 0.73 (T1) and 0.72 (T2) for benevolent sexism, and 0.74 (T1) and 0.73 (T2) for hostile sexism.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.2 Thin-Ideal Internalization\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThin-ideal internalization was assessed using the Ideal Body Stereotype Scale-Revised (IBSSR; Stice \u0026amp; Agras, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR72\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e), a 10-item scale assessing the extent to which participants endorsed thinness as a defining feature of female attractiveness (e.g., \u0026ldquo;\u003cem\u003eThin, tall, long legs\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rdquo;). Responses were provided on a 5-point scale (1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003estrongly disagree\u003c/em\u003e to 5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003estrongly agree\u003c/em\u003e), with higher scores indicating stronger internalization. The IBSSR has demonstrated strong construct validity and internal consistency in prior research with Chinese adolescents (Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.85; Jackson \u0026amp; Chen, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e). In the present study, the scale exhibited high internal consistency (α\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.98 at both T1 and T2).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec11\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.3 Online Objectification\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eOnline objectification were assessed using the Online Objectification Scale, a 7-item measure adapted from Luo et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR50\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Items evaluated participants\u0026rsquo; tendency to emphasize appearance in online interactions (e.g., \u003cem\u003e\u0026ldquo;How often have you expressed the importance of appearance and body size during online communication?\u0026rdquo;\u003c/em\u003e; see Appendix). Responses were recorded on a 5-point scale (1\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003enever\u003c/em\u003e to 5\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;\u003cem\u003ealways\u003c/em\u003e), with higher scores indicating greater engagement in online objectification. We performed a confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to assess whether a 7-item single factor model was appropriate. Uniformly adequate fits supported the model, RMSEA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.067, \u003cem\u003eχ(10)\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e=3.60, CFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.987, TLI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.973, SRMR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.017. in the present study, the internal consistency was strong (Cronbach\u0026rsquo;s α\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.90 at T1 and 0.88 at T2).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec12\" class=\"Section3\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.4 Data Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eCross-lagged panel models were conducted using path analysis in Mplus 7.0. Cross-lagged analysis leverages longitudinal data to examine reciprocal causality among a set of constructs (Kenny, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1975\u003c/span\u003e). Separate models were estimated for each of the two types of sexism. In Model 1, the Time 1 (T1) constructs of benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification were allowed to simultaneously predict the same constructs assessed at Time 2 (T2, 13-month follow-up). Model 2 followed the same structure, with hostile sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification at T1 and T2. Consistent with Anderson \u0026amp; Williams (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1992\u003c/span\u003e), exogenous variables at T1 were allowed to correlate, as were endogenous variables at T2.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAfter obtaining optimal model fit indices, each model's specific paths were scrutinized. Cross-lagged models contain three types of relationships (Orth et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR56\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e): (1) \u003cb\u003eSynchronous correlations\u003c/b\u003e, which are the non-directional associations between two constructs assessed at the same time point (e.g., T1 benevolent sexism and T1 thin-ideal internalization); (2) \u003cb\u003eTemporal stability\u003c/b\u003e or autoregression, where the same construct assessed at one time point predicts its subsequent measurement (e.g., T1 benevolent sexism to T2 thin-ideal internalization), controlling for all other lagged antecedents; (3) \u003cb\u003eCross-lagged paths\u003c/b\u003e, which reflect the predictive relationships between two conceptually distinct constructs assessed at different time points (e.g., T1 hostile sexism to T2 thin-ideal internalization), and are key to evaluating the research hypotheses. After accounting for the temporal history of all constructs, these paths indicate whether explanatory relationships remain.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo test the mediation model, PROCESS (Hayes, 2012; Model 4) was employed within hierarchical multiple regression analyses, with bootstrap analysis used to generate 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals based on 2000 resamples of the data. Following Burton et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e) in their longitudinal mediation analysis approach, T1 benevolent sexism/hostile sexism was treated as the predictor, T2 online objectification behaviors as the criterion measure, and T2 thin-ideal internalization was hypothesized to mediate this relationship.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3 Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec14\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1 Descriptive Statistics\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e presents the means, standard deviations, and correlation matrix for all study variables. Significant correlations were observed both within and across measurement waves. The weak correlation between benevolent sexism and hostile sexism supports their evaluation as distinct constructs.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCorrelation analyses indicated that age was was unrelated to any key variables. Benevolent sexism was positively associated with both thin-ideal internalization and online objectification, whereas hostile sexism was not associated with thin-ideal internalization and was negatively associated with online objectification.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMeans, Standard Deviations, and Correlation Matrix of Variables (girls\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;270, boys\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;307).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"13\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c10\" colnum=\"10\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c11\" colnum=\"11\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c12\" colnum=\"12\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c13\" colnum=\"13\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e 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colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003egender\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;.05\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eT1 BS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e32.57\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.04\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.22\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eT2 BS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e33.40\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.24\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.11\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.39\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eT1 HS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e30.31\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;.33\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e 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align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.33\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eT1 TI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e28.80\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.15\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.30\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.17\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;.06\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eT2 TI\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e31.23\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.77\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.11\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.22\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.20\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.37\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eT1 OO\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.69\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.04\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.22\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.31\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.15\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.31\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.12\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026mdash;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eT2 OO\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.32\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.58\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.03\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.24\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.26\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.26\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;.07\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c10\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026minus;.12\u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c11\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.24\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c12\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.28\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c13\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e.37\u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003ctfoot\u003e \u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd colspan=\"13\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eNote.\u003c/em\u003e BS\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Benevolent Sexism, HS\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Hostile Sexism, TI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Thin-ideal internalization, OO\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;Online Objectification. \u003csup\u003e*\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.05; \u003csup\u003e**\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.01; \u003csup\u003e***\u003c/sup\u003e\u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.001.\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tfoot\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec15\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2 Cross-Lagged Panel Models\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe cross-lagged panel model for benevolent sexism predicting online objectification revealed strong fit indices: \u003cem\u003eχ\u003c/em\u003e(665)\u0026sup2; = 1.67, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001, RMSEA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.034, CFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.967, TLI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.963, SRMR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.054. After controlling for age, gender and family income, T1 benevolent sexism (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.13, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.002) significantly predicted T2 thin-ideal internalization, while T1 thin-ideal internalization did not predict T2 benevolent sexism (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.05, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.308). The T1 measure of thin-ideal internalization (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.12, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.008) contributed to a greater level of T2 online objectification, whereas T1 online objectification did not predict T2 thin-ideal internalization (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = -0.06, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.223). Results also showed that T1 benevolent sexism (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.13, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.003) forecasted greater online objectification at T2, but T1 online objectification did not significantly predict benevolent sexism at T2 (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.01, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.847). Overall, this model indicated a one-way prediction of online objectification by benevolent sexism (see Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003ea). To further investigate the relationship between T1 benevolent sexism and T2 online objectification, we conducted a mediation analysis within the cross-lagged panel model, results indicated that benevolent sexism significantly predicted online objectification through the mediating role of thin-ideal internalization, the indirect effect was 0.001, 95%CI[0.001, 0.002], \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe cross-lagged panel model for hostile sexism predicting online objectification also revealed strong fit indices: \u003cem\u003eχ\u003c/em\u003e(665)\u0026sup2; = 1.79, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001, RMSEA\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.037, CFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.961, TLI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.957, SRMR\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.056. After controlling for age and gender, T1 hostile sexism (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.08, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.052) did not significantly predict T2 thin-ideal internalization, and T1 thin-ideal internalization did not predict T2 hostile sexism (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = -0.01, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.796). The T1 measure of thin-ideal internalization (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.15, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.001) contributed to a greater level of T2 online objectification, while T1 online objectification did not predict T2 thin-ideal internalization (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = -0.04, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.396). Results also showed that T1 hostile sexism forecasted greater online objectification at T2 (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = -0.01, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.796), but T1 online objectification did not significantly predict hostile sexism at T2 (\u003cem\u003eβ\u003c/em\u003e = -0.04, \u003cem\u003ep\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.429) (see Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003eb).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4 Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study advances research on benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, and online objectification by examining their longitudinal interrelationships over a 13-month period using cross-lagged panel analyses in a large adolescent sample. Our findings indicate a significant longitudinal effect of baseline benevolent sexism on online objectification, demonstrating a one-directional predictive relationship. Notably, benevolent sexism predicted later online objectification, whereas online objectification did not reciprocally influence benevolent sexism.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec17\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.1 Benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eOur findings support the hypothesis that individuals who endorse benevolent sexism are more likely to internalize the thin ideal (Forbes et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e) and engage in online objectification behaviors. These factors\u0026mdash;benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification\u0026mdash;appear to be linked by the social emphasis on appearance. Prior research indicates that women often associate thinness with a positive, successful life (Evans, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e), and exposure to thin-ideal imagery increases the desire to be thin (Rochelle \u0026amp; Hu, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR63\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Similarly, exposure to beauty images, including the thin ideal, is associated with greater self-objectification (Alleva et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Our study extends these findings by demonstrating that society\u0026rsquo;s prioritization of appearance not only fosters self-objectification but also encourages individuals to objectify others. Notably, this process is more strongly linked to benevolent sexism than hostile sexism underscoring a unique role for benevolent sexism in shaping objectifying environments (Bareket \u0026amp; Fiske, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Duckitt et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe also found that individuals with high levels of benevolent sexism engage in more online objectifying behaviors, with thin-ideal internalization as a mediating factor. Although women are often the primary victims of objectifying environments, both men and women can contribute to objectifying environments. Numerous studies have shown that exposure to objectifying environments increases self-objectification, especially among women (Bachner-Melman et al., 2024; Daniels et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Vendemia \u0026amp; Fox, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR81\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). This suggests that individuals endorsing benevolent sexism may unknowingly reinforce objectifying environments, thereby perpetuating women\u0026rsquo;s self-objectification. Although some online objectifying behaviors, such as complimenting someone\u0026rsquo;s appearance, may originate from positive intentions, they are often more readily accepted, thereby sustaining an environment that fosters objectification.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eRamati-Ziber et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR59\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e) propose that societal prescriptive norms pressure women to pursue beauty intensively, a notion that aligns with sexist attitudes. This suggests that the drive to meet beauty ideals is influenced by internalizing the thin ideal (or other beauty ideals). However, our findings diverge from Xiao and Wang (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR88\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), who found that women\u0026rsquo;s objectification mediates the relationship between beauty ideals and sexist attitudes, with this effect being stronger among lesbian and bisexual women than heterosexual women. This discrepancy may stem from their focus on sexual objectification\u0026mdash;where women are primarily viewed as sex objects\u0026mdash;while our research focuses on appearance-related objectification, especially behaviors perceived as expressions of goodwill. These distinctions imply that different objectifying behaviors serve distinct functions and may governed by separate mechanisms. For example, appearance-related objectification behaviors may be more closely linked to benevolent sexism, leading women to engage in appearance-management behaviors (Calogero \u0026amp; Jost, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2011\u003c/span\u003e), whereas hostile sexism may be more strongly related to sexual harassment and competitive gender dynamics (Belmonte et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Dondzilo et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Fox \u0026amp; Vendemia, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). methodological differences\u0026mdash;such as our use of longitudinal data compared to previous studies relying on cross-sectional data\u0026mdash;may contribute to these discrepancies.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCross-lagged analyses indicate that benevolent sexism drives both thin-ideal internalization and online objectification. This insight deepens our understanding of the interactions between benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, and online objectification, suggesting that benevolent sexism is a critical antecedent that fosters both self-objectification and the objectification of others. Thus, thin-ideal internalization and online objectification can be viewed as manifestations of benevolent sexism, which helps to perpetuate a socially objectifying climate (Bareket \u0026amp; Fiske, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Another important finding is that thin-ideal internalization and online objectifying behaviors do not predict benevolent sexism, suggesting that benevolent sexism is shaped by broader societal attitudes and remains relatively stable over time. For individuals who internalize the thin ideal, engaging in online objectifying behaviors\u0026mdash;such as offering compliments on appearance\u0026mdash;appears to be more aligned with benevolent sexism than hostile sexism.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn summary, our findings indicate that benevolent sexism, rather than hostile sexism, predicts increased online objectification behaviors, with thin-ideal internalization serving as a mediating factor. Benevolent sexism fosters the belief that \u0026ldquo;thin equals beautiful\u0026rdquo;, influencing women\u0026rsquo;s self-perceptions and behaviors in multifaceted ways. Notably, thin-ideal internalization leads to online objectification within benevolent sexism, while other studies have linked thin-ideal internalization to hostile sexism-related behaviors (Forbes et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e) or other problematic outcomes (Hawkins et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e; Knobloch-Westerwick \u0026amp; Crane, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e; Tylka et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR76\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). These variations likely stem from differences in the types of objectifying behaviors examined, suggesting that appearance-related and sexual objectification operate through distinct psychological mechanisms.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec18\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.2 Hostile Sexism, Thin-Ideal Internalization, and Online Objectification\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe found that hostile sexism does not predict online objectification behaviors. This finding may be explained by the nature of hostile sexism, which involves negative attitudes toward women (Duckitt, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e) that do not manifest in positive expressions, such as well-intentioned comments and likes in online settings. Contrary to prior studies, our results show that individuals who engage in online objectification behaviors do not exhibit higher levels of hostile sexism (Bareket \u0026amp; Fiske, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; LaCroix et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR48\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). This discrepancy may be attributed to the focus of previous research on sexual objectification (Xiao \u0026amp; Wang, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR88\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e), which suggests that different mechanisms underlie objectifying behaviors.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eInterestingly, our findings did not support the expected link between hostile sexism and thin-ideal internalization, wherein individuals endorsing hostile sexism would also internalize thin ideals (Forbes et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2007\u003c/span\u003e). In fact, prior research by Forbes et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e) similarly found that benevolent sexism, rather than hostile sexism, has a stronger correlation with thin-ideal internalization. This suggests that benevolent sexism aligns more closely with appearance-related values. One possible explanation for this is that hostile sexism primarily targets issues related to social rights and workplace dynamics rather than body image. For instance, hostile sexism often manifests through the exclusion of women from competitive environments, questioning their capabilities (Bareket \u0026amp; Fiske, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), assigning blame for mishaps (Skinner et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR68\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e), and promoting negative attitudes toward female leadership (Wetzler et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR85\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) and income equality (Conner \u0026amp; Fiske, 2019).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn terms of body image, individuales who support hostile sexism may exclude perceived competitive threats rather than internalizing thin ideals or participating in online objectification (Duckitt, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e). Research indicates that those who aspire to the thin ideal and exhibit competitive traits are more likely to develop eating disorders (Schleien \u0026amp; Bardone-Cone, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR66\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Hostile sexism, on the other hand, may emerge when individuals perceive a threat to their status, as evidenced by negative evaluations of women who modify selfies (Vendemia, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR80\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e) or expressions of hostility toward peer selfies (Cheng et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Overall, our findings suggest that the harmful effects of hostile sexism may extend beyond appearance-related concerns, undermining both women's competence and their perceived attractiveness. This warrants further exploration of its broader impact.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec19\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e4.3 Limitations and Future Research Directions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study has several limitations. First, the analysis relied on data collected at only two time points to examine the mediation model of benevolent and hostile sexism on online objectification behaviors. The limited temporal scope reduces the reliability of conclusions drawn about longitudinal trends. To gain a more robust understanding of these relationships over time, future research should incorporate data from at least three time points.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSecond, while focusing on early adolescents allows for an investigation of the early onset and development of sexism, it also presents certain limitations. For instance, the relatively low levels of hostile sexism within this demographic may skew the data structure, potentially influencing the results. Future studies should extend the sample to include late adolescents and adults, thereby providing a more comprehensive understanding of these constructs across different age groups.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLastly, the online objectification questionnaire used in this study was developed specifically for this research. While it captures common objectification-related behaviors on social media, it does not encompass potentially harmful behaviors such as sexual harassment (Russell \u0026amp; Trigg, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR64\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2004\u003c/span\u003e; Waubert de Puiseau \u0026amp; Roessel, 2013) or teasing (Hack, 2020). This limitation may explain the lack of a clear correlation between hostile sexism and online objectifying behaviors in our study. Future research should include these additional behaviors to further explore the relationship between hostile sexism and online objectification.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eDr. Yi-jun Luo: Conceptualization; Data Curation; Formal Analysis; Investigation; Methodology; Supervision; Writing-Original Draft; Writing-Review \u0026amp; EditingMiss Jing-qiu Zhang: Investigation; Writing-Review \u0026amp; EditingDr. Qian Nie: Writing-Review \u0026amp; Editing; MethodologyDr. Hong Chen: Funding Acquisition; Supervision\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eData Availability\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eData is provided within the manuscript or supplementary information files.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAlleva JM, Gr\u0026uuml;njes C, Coenen L, Custers M, Vester P, Stutterheim SE (2024) A randomized controlled trial investigating two protective filtering strategies to mitigate the effects of beauty-ideal media imagery on women\u0026rsquo;s body image. 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Health Commun 3:1\u0026ndash;10\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Social media, benevolent sexism, thin-ideal internalization, online objectification, adolescents","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5851063/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5851063/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eObjectification has been linked to self-objectification and increased mental health risks, particularly among adolescent girls. While social media has grown increasingly popular in recent years, much remains unknown about who engages in online objectification behaviors on these platforms and the mechanisms underlying it. This study aimed to investigate the associations between ambivalent sexism, thin-ideal internalization and online objectification using a 13-month longitudinal design. A sample of 577 Chinese adolescents (aged 11\u0026ndash;14 years; 270 girls, 307 boys) completed self-report measures at baseline (T1) and again at the 13-month follow-up (T2). Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that T1 benevolent sexism was associated with increased T2 thin-ideal internalization and T2 online objectification, yet no significant association was found between T1 online objectification and T2 thin-ideal internalization or T2 benevolent sexism. Additionally, thin-ideal internalization mediated the relationship between benevolent sexism and online objectification. These findings suggest that benevolent sexism may be a significant risk factor for adolescent objectification on social media. Targeted interventions aimed at reducing benevolent sexism could serve as effective strategies to mitigate online objectification and its negative impacts on adolescent girls.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Who objectifies girls on social media? the associations between ambivalent sexism and online objectification: A 13-month prospective study","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-01-28 17:36:43","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5851063/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-04-29T13:26:08+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-04-15T06:32:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"178278093036641068896831656605245802390","date":"2025-03-25T09:18:52+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-02-26T16:52:58+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"259931524015194105762437843776746977989","date":"2025-02-21T09:56:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-02-19T08:51:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-01-30T13:59:29+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-01-30T13:54:16+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-01-23T12:05:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","date":"2025-01-17T17:35:12+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7309c41c-1cb7-46c0-a09e-70204e6b4f4d","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 28th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":43309203,"name":"Humanities/Cultural and media studies"},{"id":43309204,"name":"Social science/Cultural and media studies"},{"id":43309205,"name":"Social science/Psychology"},{"id":43309206,"name":"Social science/Science technology and society"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-20T16:09:50+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-5851063","link":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07254-4","journal":{"identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications"},"publishedOn":"2026-04-18 15:56:59","publishedOnDateReadable":"April 18th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-01-28 17:36:43","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1057/s41599-026-07254-4","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07254-4","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5851063","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5851063","identity":"rs-5851063","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}