The Effect of Dimensions of İdentity on Self-Objectification in University Students

Self-objectification is a concept that focuses on how individuals' bodies are evaluated by others. It is known that women's self-perceptions affect their evaluations of their bodies, especially in self-objectification, which is studied in women's studies. In this context, it was aimed to investigate the effects of identity dimensions on self-objectification in this study. The participants consisted of 215 university women students between the ages of 18-39 (mean = 21.77, sd=3.88). Personal Information Form, The Dimensions of Identity Development Scale, and Self-Objectification Beliefs and Behaviors Scale were used as data collection tools. According to correlation analysis, there were nagative relationships between self-objectification and commitment, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth, and exploration in depth. However, there was a positive relationship between self-objectification and ruminative exploration. According to the results of multiple regression analysis, it was found that commitment, identification with commitment, and exploration in breadth negatively predicted self-objectification, but the effect of exploration in depth on self-objectification was not significant. In addition, the effect of ruminative exploration on self-objectification was found to be positively. The results are discussed in the context of identity and self-objectification literature.