An investigation of young girls’ responses to sexualized images

© 2016 Elsevier LtdEvidence suggests that the sexualization of girls has increased and become more explicit in recent years. However, most of the research conducted to date has focused on sexualization in adults. To address this research gap, this study explored how young Australian girls respond to...

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Main Authors: Jongenelis, M., Pettigrew, Simone, Byrne, S., Biagioni, N.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier BV 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32910
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author Jongenelis, M.
Pettigrew, Simone
Byrne, S.
Biagioni, N.
author_facet Jongenelis, M.
Pettigrew, Simone
Byrne, S.
Biagioni, N.
author_sort Jongenelis, M.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2016 Elsevier LtdEvidence suggests that the sexualization of girls has increased and become more explicit in recent years. However, most of the research conducted to date has focused on sexualization in adults. To address this research gap, this study explored how young Australian girls respond to and describe sexualized and non-sexualized depictions of their peers. Results from 42 girls aged 6–11 years revealed that sexualization was a perceptually salient attribute, with participants readily classifying sexualized girls as a subgroup. Participants also made distinct trait attributions based on the differences between sexualized and non-sexualized girls. The results suggest that young girls respond differently to sexualized and non-sexualized depictions of their peers and are beginning to develop stereotypes based on these depictions. As such, the implementation of media literacy programs in adolescence may be too late and efforts may be required to address this issue among younger children.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-329102017-09-13T15:26:25Z An investigation of young girls’ responses to sexualized images Jongenelis, M. Pettigrew, Simone Byrne, S. Biagioni, N. © 2016 Elsevier LtdEvidence suggests that the sexualization of girls has increased and become more explicit in recent years. However, most of the research conducted to date has focused on sexualization in adults. To address this research gap, this study explored how young Australian girls respond to and describe sexualized and non-sexualized depictions of their peers. Results from 42 girls aged 6–11 years revealed that sexualization was a perceptually salient attribute, with participants readily classifying sexualized girls as a subgroup. Participants also made distinct trait attributions based on the differences between sexualized and non-sexualized girls. The results suggest that young girls respond differently to sexualized and non-sexualized depictions of their peers and are beginning to develop stereotypes based on these depictions. As such, the implementation of media literacy programs in adolescence may be too late and efforts may be required to address this issue among younger children. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32910 10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.09.003 Elsevier BV restricted
spellingShingle Jongenelis, M.
Pettigrew, Simone
Byrne, S.
Biagioni, N.
An investigation of young girls’ responses to sexualized images
title An investigation of young girls’ responses to sexualized images
title_full An investigation of young girls’ responses to sexualized images
title_fullStr An investigation of young girls’ responses to sexualized images
title_full_unstemmed An investigation of young girls’ responses to sexualized images
title_short An investigation of young girls’ responses to sexualized images
title_sort investigation of young girls’ responses to sexualized images
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32910