Adolescents’ Objectification of Their Same-Sex Friends: Indirect Relationships With Media Use Through Self-Objectification, Rewarded Appearance Ideals, and Online Appearance Conversations

Abstract

The current cross-sectional study among adolescent boys and girls ( N = 640, Mage = 15.47, SD = 1.63) examined whether exposure to popular television programs and Facebook predicts the extent to which adolescents objectify their same-sex friends. Two pathways were tested to explain these relationships. The first included internalization of rewarded appearance ideals and self-objectification. The second included appearance conversations with friends on Facebook. Results revealed that adolescents’ television exposure and Facebook use only indirectly predicted friend-objectification through their engagement in appearance conversations on Facebook. The relationship between television exposure and friend-objectification was also fully mediated by internalization and self-objectification.