Research Articles and Abstracts
Prusaczyk, E., Hodson, G., & Landry, J. (Revise and Resubmit). The harm amplification model of pornography: A person × situation framework for explaining when and why pornography fosters sexual harm. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Whether and why pornography fosters sexual harm toward women remains disputed. The Harm Amplification Model of Pornography (HAMP) proposes that harm is not inevitable but emerges under certain person × situation configurations. The HAMP proposes that repeated exposure to aggressive or degrading content might reinforce harmful sexual scripts over time, with ideological predispositions shaping both responses to pornographic content and the translation of arousal into harm. Across four studies, we conducted an initial multi-method test of these propositions. Study 1 (cross-sectional, Nmen = 379, Nwomen = 278) showed that frequent hardcore pornography consumption was more strongly associated with rape myth acceptance, objectification, and harassment among those higher in ambivalent sexism or conservatism. Study 2 (longitudinal; N = 284) showed that within-person increases in hardcore pornography use prospectively predicted later increases in objectification among participants higher in hostile sexism or conservatism. Study 3 (experimental; Nmen = 500, Nwomen = 298) found that pornography increased sexual arousal relative to control, while the lower arousal elicited by hardcore relative to romantic pornography was attenuated among those higher in sexism or conservatism; arousal, in turn, was more strongly associated with harm among ideologically predisposed participants. Study 4 (experimental; N = 296) showed that men with more frequent histories of hardcore pornography use exhibited stronger arousal to new hardcore exposures, with arousal predicting greater willingness to sexually exploit women, particularly among those higher in hostile sexism or conservatism. Together, these findings provide converging support for the HAMP while leaving longer-term cultivation processes to be tested.
Prusaczyk, E., Batinic, M., Durant, L., Wattam, V., Fuller, K., & Khakpour, M. (Under Review). A scoping review of migrant-led online communities: Multi-layered spaces for belonging, identity, and collective action. New Media & Society.
Migrant-led online communities shape relationships, cultural identities, and collective mobilization, yet this literature remains fragmented. This scoping review mapped and synthesized empirical studies of online communities formed and governed by migrant groups. We searched Sociological Abstracts, CINAHL, PsycINFO, ERIC, and Web of Science for studies published between 1993-2024; 123 met the eligibility criteria. Data were charted using a prespecified framework and synthesized through inductive thematic analysis. Six themes emerged: connection and belonging; cultural identity expression and transformation; practical, economic, and professional support; social and emotional support; political activism and advocacy; and discrimination concerns. Immigrant-focused studies emphasized information and resource sharing. International-student studies emphasized education and transnational identity; migrant-worker studies, private communication and mutual support; and refugee- and undocumented-migrant studies, advocacy, rights, and resistance to assimilation. Exclusion, surveillance, misinformation, and prejudice intersected the literature. These findings position migrant-led online communities as critical yet uneven infrastructures of belonging, support, identity, and advancement.
*Patmore, E., *Prusaczyk, E., & Purc-Stephenson, R. (Under Review). Public representations of farmers and farming: Stereotypes and simulated hiring preferences in a rural Canadian context. Journal of Rural Studies.
*Shared first authorship.
Canadian farmers report feeling misunderstood by members of the non-farming public, yet relatively little research has directly examined how farmers are socially represented. This study examined farmer stereotypes and simulated hiring preferences among 121 non-farming adults from Nova Scotia, Canada. Participants completed a free-association task, semantic differential ratings, and a hypothetical hiring task involving equally qualified candidates who varied by gender and association with traditional family farming versus modern commercial farming. Farmers were represented in predominantly favourable but traditionalized terms: participants most frequently described them as hard-working, strong, and dedicated, and rated them as competent, reliable, warm, educated, intelligent, masculine, and traditional. These category-level perceptions did not predict relative candidate evaluations. However, candidates associated with traditional family farming were rated as more hireable and better fitting the agricultural role than candidates associated with modern commercial farming. Candidate gender did not significantly affect overall hireability or role fit, although female candidates were unexpectedly selected more frequently than male candidates when participants chose a single candidate. Overall, the findings suggest that favourable regard for farmers can coexist with selective preferences for culturally familiar representations of farming. For rural studies, they point to a possible representational lag in which agricultural practices and structures change more quickly than culturally valued images of who and what appears authentically agricultural.
Prusaczyk, E., Walker, M., Stewart, E., & Lambe, L. J. (Under Review). For whom does bystander training work? Benevolent sexism as a barrier to sexual violence recognition following prevention education. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Bystander education is a cornerstone of campus sexual violence prevention, yet not all students benefit equally. The present study investigated whether ideological sexism predicted differential responsiveness to bystander education over time. Undergraduate students (N = 150) completed measures of Waves of Change (WoC) bystander training and ambivalent (hostile and benevolent) sexism at Time 1, and willingness to intervene (including noticing sexual violence and knowing how to intervene) three months later (T2). Analyses revealed that hostile sexism at T1 predicted lower willingness to intervene at T2, conceptually replicating prior findings that ambivalent sexism can undermine prosocial responses. Although WoC participation was associated with greater recognition of sexual violence over time, this effect was relatively stronger (vs. weaker) among those lower (vs. higher) in benevolent sexism. Thus, benevolent sexism might constrain the earliest step of bystander intervention (i.e., perceiving an incident as requiring intervention) without necessarily impairing other skills like knowing how to intervene. Integrating bystander, ambivalent sexism, and system justification theories, benevolent sexism is positioned as an ideological filter through which students interpret sexual harm. Practically, these findings highlight the need for bystander education to directly challenge benevolent sexist beliefs and broaden students’ understanding of what constitutes sexual violence.
Stewart, E. G., Walker, M., Prusaczyk, E., & Lambe, L. J. (In Press). Are we actually making waves? A preliminary evaluation of the Waves of Change bystander intervention training for sexual violence prevention. Journal of School Violence.
Objective: Canadian research estimates that 71% of all students report witnessing unwanted sexual behavior in a postsecondary setting. Many universities have attempted to combat sexual violence on their campuses by employing bystander intervention training. One such program, Waves of Change, has been implemented since 2016 but has yet to be comprehensively evaluated for effectiveness. The present study evaluated the effects of Waves of Change participation on knowledge about sexual violence, self-efficacy, and intervening behaviors. Method: Participants (n=249) were undergraduate students at a small rural university in maritime Canada. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires in a two-wave longitudinal survey spaced six weeks apart. Key measures included retrospective pre-posttest knowledge of sexual violence, self-efficacy to intervene, and bystander intervention behaviors. Results: Completing Waves of Change was significantly associated with increased knowledge about sexual violence—both compared to non-completers and to participants’ own retrospective pre-intervention scores. Serial mediation analyses revealed a significant indirect effect of program participation on bystander behaviors (Times 1 and 2) via increased knowledge (Time 1) and subsequent self-efficacy (Time 1). This sequential mediation pathway was statistically significant in both cross-sectional and longitudinal models, supporting the proposed mechanisms of change. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the preliminary effectiveness of Waves of Change, highlighting its potential as a scalable model for campus-based bystander intervention programs. With promising results on knowledge and bystander intervention behavior, this study advances the evidence base for preventative approaches to sexual violence. The results may inform university policy development and enhance national strategies aimed at fostering safer postsecondary environments.
Puffer, H., Hodson, G., & Prusaczyk, E. (2024). Attitudes toward cisgender women’s participation in sex work: Opportunity for agency or harmful exchange? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 53(3), 1169–1185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02797-y
Despite the stigmatization of sex work in society, little empirical research has examined attitudes toward sex work, especially its modern incarnations (e.g., sugar relationships, webcamming). Here, a sample of 298 US residents (Mage = 40.06 years; 59.1% male, 40.9% female) was recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Various theoretical predictors (e.g., right-wing authoritarianism [RWA]), sociosexuality) were set to predict the degree to which four sex work domains (prostitution, pornography, sugar relationships, webcamming) provide cisgender women agency (beneficial) or harm them (detrimental). We found that the domains of sex work were organized hierarchically, as theorized by the so-called “whorearchy,” whereby the more “unfavorable” domains (e.g., prostitution) fall at the bottom, and the more “favorable” ones (e.g., webcamming) sit at the top. Additionally, multiple regression analyses revealed that RWA (negatively) and sociosexuality (positively) were the strongest predictors of sex work agency across various domains. In predicting harm, RWA, feminism, religiosity, and age were unique positive predictors, whereas sociosexuality and male (vs. female) self-identified sex were unique negative predictors, across the four domains of sex work. Moreover, individual differences (e.g., RWA) were often significantly stronger predictors of agency or harm among female than male participants. The results suggest that although sex work domains vary in agency and harm ratings, individual differences (most notably, RWA and sociosexuality) are important predictors across domains, especially for cisgender women. Given the growing prevalence of such online forms of sex work, along with growing evidence of sugar relationships, it will become increasingly important to track reactions as these forms of sex work evolve.
Hodson, G., & Prusaczyk, E. (2024). A cautionary note on interpreting research findings in the presence of statistical suppression. Journal of Social Psychology, 164, 149-152. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2023.2197775
In regression analyses predictor variables can suppress the effects of other predictor variables, sometimes even resulting in “flipped” relations relative to their zero-order relations (i.e. negative suppression). Drawing on research examining the relations between religion and prejudice, and between ideology and desiring “tall poppies” (successful people) to fall, we highlight examples where researchers appear to have made inappropriate or confusing interpretations of their findings. We compare these examples to a best practice illustration involving associations between psychopathy and counter-productive work behavior. Finally, we provide practical guidelines for thinking about suppression effects in research programmes.
Prusaczyk, E., Earle M., Choma, B, L., & Calogero, R. (2023). An objectification theory lens for understanding compliance with COVID-19 safety measures. In Miller, M. K. (Eds.), The Social Science of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Call to Action for Researchers. Oxford University Press: Oxford, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197615133.003.0011
Public opinion polls and research consistently demonstrated that women were more likely than men to adhere to COVID-19 safety precautions. This chapter draws on objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) to potentially explain this gender difference. According to objectification theory, sexual and self-objectification encourage vigilance about one’s physical safety. Safety anxiety, in turn, predicts restricted movement in public spaces, a behavior that presumably protects against the threat of sexual harm. Earle et al. (2021) showed that the safety anxiety that stems from sexual and self-objectification also predicted greater compliance with COVID-19 safety measures. Critically, women scored higher than men in sexual and self-objectification, safety anxiety, and safety measure compliance. Thus, men’s lower adherence to safety precautions might be due, in part, to their relatively lower levels of sexual and self-objectification and concern for their physical safety, processes that promote the adoption of risk-reducing behaviors. In sum, sexual objectification processes and gender were germane predictors of people’s pandemic-related behaviors. We used these findings to offer suggestions for research and social policy.
Malcolm, W., Fisher, E., & Prusaczyk, E. (2022). The complexity of assessing ministry-specific satisfaction and stress. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 50(3), 320-339.https://doi.org/10.1177/00916471211021921
Christian ministry work can be gratifying, but it also carries a risk of burnout. Despite research documenting clergy stress and wellness, few questionnaires measure ministry life aspects that contribute to clergy burnout or wellness. To fill this gap, we developed the positive aspects (PAI) and negative aspects (NAI) inventories. These questionnaires measure the intensity and frequency of positive and negative aspects of ministry life. The present research further tests the viability of the PAI and NAI. Confirmatory factor analyses suggest that the PAI is best represented by 17 factors, whereas 12 factors best characterize the NAI. Importantly, correlation patterns between PAI and NAI scores and indices of burnout suggest distinct patterns of burnout. Furthermore, exploratory tests of PAI and NAI scores by gender, ordination status, and years in ministry demonstrated crucial differences. This research advances the understanding of clergy wellness and has implications for assessment and intervention.
Hodson, G., & Prusaczyk, E. (2021). Cavalier humor beliefs: Dismissing jokes as “just jokes” facilitates prejudice and internalizes negativity among targets. In Strick, M., & Ford, T. E. (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Humor (pp. 170–188). Oxon, UK: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003042440-10-14
This chapter focuses on the intergroup functions of humor, where the goal is to demean or to attack the social group in question. People naturally differ from each other in terms of their humor temperaments, with some of these differences having implications for intergroup relations. In the intergroup relations literature, theorists have become increasingly interested not only in documenting the existence of dominance and prejudice but in better understanding the mechanisms through which such processes operate. One key tool in the study of Social Dominance Theory is SDO, an individual difference measure of the degree to which people view hierarchy and dominance as a favorable way to structure society. The subsequent study sought not only to evaluate the replicability of this finding but to introduce some methodological refinements. Humor, and certainly disparaging humor, is inherently social in nature.
Earle, M.,* Prusaczyk, E.*, Choma, B, L., & Calogero, R. (2021). Compliance with COVID-19 safety measures: A test of an objectification theory model. Body Image, 37, 6-13.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.01.004
*Shared first authorship.
In the present paper, we tested an objectification theory model including compliance with COVID-19 safety measures as an outcome. Safety measures recommended by governments and health organizations include monitoring one’s body and interpersonal and social distance from others. We contend that the diffuse safety anxiety stemming from sexual and self-objectification encourages targets to broadly adopt behaviors that protect against body-based dangers, including COVID-19. Accordingly, safety anxiety should predict greater compliance with COVID-19 safety measures. U.S. residents (N = 501) were recruited online and completed measures of sexual objectification, self-objectification, safety anxiety, appearance anxiety, and COVID-19 safety compliance. Two-step mediation analyses revealed a positive indirect effect of sexual objectification on safety anxiety through internalization of observers’ perspectives (self-objectification Factor 1); in turn, there was a positive indirect effect of internalized others on COVID-19 body-based safety compliance through safety anxiety. Moreover, women (vs. men) reported higher levels of sexual objectification, internalization of observers’ perspectives, safety anxiety, appearance anxiety, and COVID-19 safety measure compliance. Not only is safety anxiety relevant to cautionary behaviors protective against sexual objectification threat, but it also predicts compliance with measures that reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19. Implications for objectification theory are discussed.
Prusaczyk, E., Earle, M., & Hodson, G. (2021). A brief nudge or education intervention delivered online can increase willingness to order a mushroom-beef burger. Food Quality and Preference, 87, 104045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.104045
Increasing the consumption of plant-forward meals, such as beef-mushroom burgers, is a promising avenue for improving environmental sustainability. In the present research, we explored the effectiveness of a brief nudge or education intervention designed to reduce willingness to order an all-beef burger in favor of a beef-mushroom burger. For the nudge intervention the beef-mushroom burger was set as the default menu item, whereas for the education intervention the link between beef consumption and climate change was explained. In the control condition neither were included. Participants (N = 562) completed measures of social dominance orientation (SDO), conservatism, cognitive rationalization of meat-eating, beef consumption, liking beef, and liking mushrooms, in a randomized order. Participants were then randomly assigned to the nudge (n = 189), education (n = 187), or control (n = 186) condition, after which they reported their willingness to order an all-beef (vs. beef-mushroom) burger. Results revealed that, after accounting for liking mushrooms, the nudge (vs. control) condition and the education (vs. control) condition both significantly decreased willingness to order the all-beef (vs. beef-mushroom) burger. SDO, conservatism, cognitive rationalization of meat-eating, beef consumption, or liking beef did not moderate the effectiveness of the interventions. In other words, nudge and education interventions increased willingness to order beef-mushroom burgers regardless of right-wing ideology or meat-eating attitudes or behaviors. Implications and recommendations are discussed.
Earle, M., Hoffarth, R., Prusaczyk, E., MacInnis, C., & Hodson, G. (2021). A multilevel analysis of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) rights support across 77 countries: The role of primary and secondary contact and country laws. British Journal of Social Psychology, 60, 851-869.https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12436
Although intergroup contact reduces prejudice generally, there are growing calls to examine contextual factors in conjunction with contact. Such an approach benefits from more sophisticated analytic approaches, such as multilevel modelling, that take both the individual (Level-1) and their environment (Level-2) into account. Using this approach, we go beyond attitudes to assess both individual and contextual predictors of support for gay/lesbian and transgender rights. Using a sample of participants across 77 countries, results revealed that personal gay/lesbian contact (Level-1) and living in a country with more gay/lesbian rights (Level-2) predicted greater support for gay/lesbian rights (n = 71,991). Likewise, transgender contact and living in a country with more transgender rights predicted more support for transgender rights (n = 70,056). Cross-level interactions are also presented and discussed. Overall, findings highlight the importance of both individual and contextual factors in predicting support for LGBT communities.
Prusaczyk, E., & Hodson, G. (2020). “To the moon, Alice”: Cavalier humor beliefs and women’s reactions to aggressive and belittling sexist jokes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 88, 103973. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2020.103973
Why do some women enjoy and internalize sexist jokes, whereas others express sharp disapproval? To answer this question, we explored the role of cavalier humor beliefs (jokes are fun and harmless, or “just jokes”), in addition to known predictors such as social dominance orientation and hostile sexism. In Experiment 1, women (N = 225) reported their amusement and offensiveness in response to three types of jokes: aggressive sexist jokes, belittling sexist jokes, and neutral jokes. Cavalier humor beliefs predicted higher amusement and lower offensiveness ratings for all jokes (including neutral), but more strongly predicted lower offensiveness ratings for the aggressive and belittling sexist jokes, suggesting that these beliefs might be highjacked by those who mask prejudiced intentions. In contrast, social dominance orientation and hostile sexism were each associated with favorable reactions to sexist but not neutral jokes. In Experiment 2, we explored the role of cavalier humor beliefs (and hostile sexism) in women’s (N = 226) acceptance of sexist jokes, and subsequent release of bias against women following sexist joke exposure. Overall, exposure to aggressive (vs. neutral) jokes led women to rate the jokes as unfunny and offensive, but these objections were dampened among women higher in cavalier humor beliefs, even after controlling for hostile sexism. Critically, among women higher in cavalier humor beliefs, aggressive joke exposure facilitated acceptance of discrimination against women, even when accounting for hostile sexism. Thus, cavalier humor beliefs perpetuate sexism among women, whose ingroup is targeted by sexist humor. Implications for Prejudiced Norm Theory are discussed.
Prusaczyk, E., & Hodson, G. (2020). The roles of political conservatism and binary gender beliefs in predicting prejudices toward gay men and people who are transgender. Sex Roles, 82, 438-446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01069-1
Negativity toward gay men and transgender people is pervasive. Past research suggests that authoritarianism predicts biases against transgender people, in part due to an essentialist view of gender. To determine the generalizability of these findings, but with political conservatism as the focal predictor, we re-analyzed Norton and Herek’s (2013) large (n = 2281) nationally representative U.S. dataset. In doing so, we modeled a latent factor indicated by anti-transgender attitudes and prejudice toward gay men to capture prejudice toward gender non-conformists. That is, prejudice against transgender people and gay men on the political right might arise from perceived gender norm violations, which binary gender beliefs could potentially explain. Consistent with social dominance theory, results revealed that those more conservative in ideology were more likely to display prejudice toward gender non-conformists in part due to their greater endorsement of binary gender beliefs. Unexpectedly, and novel to the existing literature, conservatism predicted binary gender beliefs and prejudice toward gender non-conformists more strongly for women than for men. Binary gender beliefs seemingly function as a legitimizing myth to bolster existing hierarchical relations between gender conforming versus gender non-conforming people, particularly among conservative women.
Prusaczyk, E., & Hodson, G. (2019). Re-examining left-right differences in abortion opposition: The roles of sexism and shared reality. Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 26, 431-445. doi:10.4473/TPM26.3.8
There exists a strong left-right divide in abortion attitudes, with the political right being more antiabortion. Popular rhetoric suggests that this divide is explained by the right’s amplified concern about the humanness of the preborn, but recent research questions this position, instead positing greater sexism on the right as a mechanism. We re-examined this latter assumption in the United States (N = 296) and consider an additional explanation: those on the right (vs. left) are especially likely to experience shared reality with key political figureheads, for instance, the then-nominated Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, which further facilitates their antiabortion stance. We find support for the conservatism ➔ sexism ➔ antiabortion pattern, but shared reality as mediator overrides the effect of sexism. With no sex differences observed, antiabortion positions appear to be more about individual differences in ideology and epistemic motivations than group membership or sexism. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Rothwell, V., Hodson, G., & Prusaczyk, E. (2019). Why pillory Hillary? Testing the endemic sexism hypothesis regarding the 2016 U.S. election. Personality and Individual Differences, 138, 106-108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.09.034
The present study used nationally representative American National Election Studies (ANES) data to examine the potential role of sexism in the 2016 presidential election. We hypothesized not only that sexism would predict voting for Trump (vs. Clinton), but that its role would be stronger on the political left (vs. right). The sample consisted of 1916 Clinton or Trump voters (51.41% women; Mage = 51.78, SD = 17.16; 79.5% White) who completed measures of political ideology and hostile sexism. Greater conservatism or sexism significantly predicted voting for Trump (vs. Clinton). As expected, sexism was a significantly stronger predictor of voting for Trump the more left-leaning (vs. right-leaning) the voter. Not only was Clinton correct that sexism played a role in her electoral loss, but she correctly characterized sexism as endemic, an influence especially perceptible on the left.
Prusaczyk, E., & Hodson, G. (2018). Left-right differences in abortion policy support in America: Clarifying the role of sex and sexism in a nationally representative 2016 sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 127, 22-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.01.030
Abortion is a contentious political issue in the U.S, with those on the political right (vs. left) more opposed to pro-abortion policies. Past research has demonstrated that the left-right divide in abortion support is in part explained by endorsement of sexist beliefs. Although informative, the generalizability of past findings is limited due to (unknown) sample representativeness and sampling procedure. Using the 2016 ANES U.S. nationally representative dataset (N = 3264), we tested the sexism-as-mediator of the left-right divide in abortion support hypothesis. We replicated previous findings, but the indirect effect of sexism was smaller than previously observed. Employing a multiple-groups analysis, we then examined whether the strength and direction of paths differed systematically by sex. Consistent with System Justification Theory (Jost & Banaji, 1994), no sex differences emerged: Conservatism predicted lower support for abortion, in part through sexism, equally for men and women. Consistent with the highly polarized state of American politics, ideology emerged as a very relevant predictor of abortion support, trumping even group membership and self-interest.
Prusaczyk, E., & Choma, B, L. (2018). Skin tone surveillance, depression, and life satisfaction in Indian women: Colour-blind racial ideology as a moderator. Body Image, 27, 179-186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.10.001
Consistent with objectification theory, many studies have shown that self-objectification (and body surveillance) is associated with depression and dissatisfaction with life. Critically, however, much of this research has been conducted with White women attending university in North America. To extend this literature, we investigated whether greater skin tone surveillance – a group-specific manifestation of self-objectification among women of colour – is linked to higher depression and lower life satisfaction among Indian women. Given that some system justifying ideologies provide a protective well-being effect for lower status individuals, we considered whether colour-blind racial ideology (i.e., the minimization/denial of White privilege) weakened the relations between skin tone surveillance and poorer well-being outcomes. Data were collected via Amazon Mechanical Turk; participants included Indian women (N = 177) between the ages of 19–30 living in India. Participants completed measures of skin tone surveillance, colour-blind racial ideology, depression, and life satisfaction. Results revealed that skin tone surveillance was associated with higher depression (and more strongly among women higher in colour-blind racial ideology). Moreover, skin tone surveillance was associated with lower life satisfaction only among women lower in colour-blind racial ideology. Implications are discussed.
Choma, B. L., & Prusaczyk, E. (2018). The effects of system justifying beliefs on skin-tone surveillance, skin-color dissatisfaction, and skin-bleaching behavior. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 42, 162-177. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684317747845
In two studies with women living in India (Study 1, n = 177) and African American women in the United States (Study 2, n = 120), we investigated whether skin-tone surveillance, which theoretically is a manifestation of self-objectification, predicted greater skin-color dissatisfaction and greater skin-bleaching behavior. Given the existence of colorism in Indian and American societies, we expected that ideologies that rationalize and perpetuate the status quo would moderate the proposed relations. Results were consistent with objectification theory and system justification theory. The positive relation between skin-tone surveillance and skin-color dissatisfaction was weaker among women of color who more strongly (vs. weakly) endorsed system justifying ideologies, and the positive relation between skin-tone surveillance and skin-bleaching behavior was stronger among women of color who more strongly (vs. weakly) endorsed system justifying ideologies. Our results suggest that self-objectification theorists and researchers should consider culturally specific manifestations of self-objectification as well as protective and legitimating effects of system justifying ideologies. We encourage clinicians and policy makers to use public campaigns and individual-level interventions to target the norms and motivations underlying skin-bleaching. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/page/pwq/suppl/index
