Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 8;61(1):33-45.
doi: 10.5334/pb.481.

Does Self-Objectification Entail an Opposition Between Appearance and Competence? The Likert Version of the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (LSOQ)

Robin Wollast  1 , Olivier Klein  1 , Dawn M VanLeeuwen  2 , Sarah J Gervais  3 , Philippe Bernard  1
Affiliations

Does Self-Objectification Entail an Opposition Between Appearance and Competence? The Likert Version of the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (LSOQ)

Robin Wollast et al. Psychol Belg. .

Abstract

We propose a new method to test the reliability of Fredrickson et al.'s self-objectification questionnaire (SOQ). This scale being based on a ranking, traditional reliability estimates are inappropriate. Based on generalizability theory, we suggest to compute the reliability of each subset of questions related to physical appearance vs. physical competence separately in order to average them. We applied this method to a sample of female US undergraduates (n = 395) and evidenced that the reliability of the scale is very low (corrected Cronbach's alpha = .31). We also noted that a large proportion of the sample (32%) failed to complete the scale correctly. In a second study (n = 93), we propose a Likert adaptation of the scale and show that the two dimensions of the SOQ are independent. In Study 3 (n = 195), we confirm results of Study 2 and demonstrate that the general structure of the Likert version has satisfactory model fit statistics. These observations lead us to discourage the use of the original version of the SOQ and rely on the Likert version of the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (LSOQ, see appendix).

Keywords: generalizability theory; objectification; physical appearance; reliability; self-objectification.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structural Equation Modeling: Confirmatory Factor Analysis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aust, F., Diedenhofen, B., Ullrich, S., & Musch, J. (2013). Seriousness checks are useful to improve data validity in online research. Behavior research methods, 45, 527–535. DOI: 10.3758/s13428-012-0265-2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bentler, P. M., & Chou, C. P. (1987). Practical issues in structural modeling. Sociological Methods & Research, 16(1), 78–117. DOI: 10.1177/0049124187016001004 - DOI
    1. Brennan, R. L. (1992). Elements of Generalizability Theory. Iowa City: ACT Publications.
    1. Calogero, R. M. (2011). Operationalizing self-objectification: Assessment and related methodological issues In Calogero R. M., Tantleff-Dunn S., Thompson K. J. (Eds.), Self-objectification in women: Causes, consequences, and counteractions (pp. 23–49). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; DOI: 10.1037/12304-002 - DOI
    1. Calogero, R. M., & Jost, J. T. (2011). Self-subjugation among women: exposure to sexist ideology, self-objectification, and the protective function of the need to avoid closure. Journal of personality and social psychology, 100, 211 DOI: 10.1037/a0021864 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources