Self-Objectification and Subjective Well-Being: A Serial Mediation Analysis on the Role of Social Appearance Anxiety and Body Image

Abstract

The ideals of beauty and appearance imposed by today’s popular society are becoming increasingly important in all stages of life. Correspondingly, research on the concepts of self-objectification, appearance anxiety, body image, and well-being has increased in recent years. Hence, this study aims to investigate whether social appearance anxiety and body image mediate the relation between self-objectification and subjective well-being in a Turkish sample. The study included 480 participants between the ages of 18 and 30. Participants were assessed using measurement tools for self-objectification, social appearance anxiety, body image, and subjective well-being. According to the serial mediation analysis, self-objectification had a negative effect on subjective well-being that was statistically significant. Additionally, it was concluded that social appearance anxiety and body image play a mediating role in the relationship between self-objectification and subjective well-being. It can be argued that the results obtained have both theoretical and practical importance for the related literature.