Five studies (total valid N = 834) examined whether objectification (i.e., being treated as a tool or an object to achieve others' goals) reduces people's perceived authenticity and subjective well-being. Participants who experienced more objectification (Studies 1a and 1b), imagined being objectified (Study 2), or recalled a past objectification experience (Study 3) felt less authentic and reported lower levels of subjective well-being than their counterparts. Moreover, perceived authenticity mediated the link between objectification and subjective well-being (Studies 1a-3). In addition, offering objectified participants an opportunity to restore authenticity could enhance their well-being (Study 4). Taken together, our findings highlight the crucial role of authenticity in understanding when and why objectification decreases subjective well-being and how to ameliorate this relationship. Our findings also imply the effect of authenticity in understanding various psychological outcomes following objectification.
Keywords: authenticity; objectification; subjective well-being.
© 2021 The British Psychological Society.