Is Objectification Linked to Existential Fears? with Dr. Jamie Goldenberg and Roxanne Felig

Dr. Jamie Goldenberg works at the University of South Florida and has been involved in the study of Terror Management Theory and Objectification of oneself and others, the body and sex, objectification of women. Roxanne Felig has been a part of the same research study.

Dr. Goldenberg's research focuses on psychological experiences associated with being a woman. To this end, she has conducted extensive research examining the causes and consequences of objectification of women. One approach to these questions is to apply terror management theory, a theory that takes an existential perspective on human motivation. Her research suggests that people are motivated to deny mortality and any connection to animality (or creatureliness) – objectification of woman accomplishes this by turning women into literal (and immortal) objects. The focus on women’s appearance and consequent denial of personhood and internal attributes affects perceptions of women and can hinder their success, having implications for political progress for instance, and also affects women’s self-perceptions, undermining self-concept clarity and congruences between the self and bodily experiences (e.g., explaining why women sometimes dress as if they are imperious to the cold).

They have also applied the terror management perspective to health outcomes, developing the terror management health model; this line of research led to 10 years of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health. Recently, she and her graduate students have been interested in the consequences of social media on women’s health and well-being.

Dr. Kate discusses with her guests  Objectification : the Disconnect from one’s body, the pyscho dynamic denial of the body’s natural abilities including feeling pain or pleasure. And so much more on the findings of this study and the phenomenon of Objectification, fear of death, and connection of it all.

Website: www.modernintimacy.com 

Dr. Kate Balestrieri 

Modern Intimacy

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