Impaired Emotional Mimicry Responses Towards Objectified Women

Abstract

Sexual objectification mostly targets women and occurs whenever they are treated as bodies for the use or consumption of others and stripped of their full humanity. While research has mostly focused on sexual harassment and aggression as the main behavioral consequence of sexual objectification, only a few studies have tried to focus on more subtle consequences towards sexually objectified targets. Spontaneous mimicry is an implicit behavior that influences our social interactions in general. It involves the imitation of other people’s postures, gestures and emotions and allows one to understand other’s emotions and intentions. Therefore, impairments in mimicry behavior are bound to have potentially damaging consequences in everyday social interactions for women who fall victim of sexual objectification. In two studies, using electromyography we measured participants’ mimicry behavior towards objectified and non-objectified women who expressed happiness and anger. Results indicated that both male and female participants attributed less mental and human traits and showed less mimicry behavior towards sexually objectified rather than non-objectified women especially when they expressed happiness. Given the fundamental role of mimicry in creating successful everyday interpersonal interactions, the results of this research advance our understanding on the more subtle, but daily consequences of sexual objectification.