• Assessed visual attention to targets in dominant vs. submissive nonverbal postures • People ave... more • Assessed visual attention to targets in dominant vs. submissive nonverbal postures • People avert their gaze from faces and upper bodies of others displaying dominance. • However, they gaze more at the legs of those displaying dominance (vs. submission). • This may allow observers to monitor the movements of threatening, dominant others. a b s t r a c t This paper investigates whether humans avert their gaze from individuals engaging in nonverbal displays of dominance. Although past studies demonstrate that both humans and nonhuman primates direct more visual attention to high-status others than low-status others, non-human primates avert their gaze when high-status conspecifics engage in nonverbal dominance displays (e.g., chest pounding). In two experiments, participants were eye-tracked while viewing photographs of men and women adopting either dominant, high-power (i.e., expansive and open) or submissive, low-power (i.e., contractive and closed) nonverbal postures. Results demonstrated that humans, like primates, avert their gaze from the faces and upper bodies of individuals displaying dominance compared to those displaying submissiveness. Not only did participants look less often at the faces and upper bodies of dominance-displaying individuals, they also fixated on these regions for shorter durations. Our findings ultimately suggest that nonverbal dominance displays influence humans' visual attention in ways that are likely to shape how social interactions unfold.
Sexual objectification, particularly of young women, is highly prevalent in modern industrialized... more Sexual objectification, particularly of young women, is highly prevalent in modern industrialized societies. Although there is plenty of experimental and cross-sectional research on objectification, prospective studies investigating the prevalence and psychological impact of objectifying events in daily life are scarce. We used ecological momentary assessment to track the occurrence of objectifying events over 1 week in the daily lives of young women (N = 81). Participants reported being targeted by a sexually objectifying event – most often the objectifying gaze – approximately once every 2 days and reported witnessing sexual objectification of others approximately 1.35 times per day. Further, multilevel linear regression analyses showed that being targeted by sexual objectification was associated with a substantial increase in state self-objectification. Overall, individual differences had little impact in moderating these effects. In October 2014, domestic violence activist group 'Hollaback!' posted a video on YouTube to highlight the prevalence of street harassment and objectification in the lives of young women. The video shows hidden camera footage of a woman dressed in jeans and a black crew neck T-shirt walking the streets of New York City for ten hours. Over the course of the day, the camera recorded over 100 instances of objectifying behaviour directed towards her, including verbal harassment, stares, winks, whistles, and crude gestures. This video quickly went viral, amassing over 42 million views on YouTube as of March 2016. While public interest in the sexual objectification of women may ebb and flow, a steady stream of research on the topic has emerged over the last two decades, following in the footsteps of Fredrickson and Roberts's (1997) influential paper on 'Objectification Theory'. Yet, due to a lack of naturalistic studies we still know very little about the prevalence and psychological impact of sexual objectification in daily life. Most research on the prevalence of sexually objectifying events has relied on one-shot retrospective
In two studies, we examined the impact of sexualization of prepubescent girls on college students... more In two studies, we examined the impact of sexualization of prepubescent girls on college students’ perceptions of girls’ mental capacity and moral standing. Previous research has shown that women depicted in sexualized and other body-focused ways are perceived as lacking mental capacities and moral standing; these perceptions reduce concern about them when they are victimized. However, no other research to date has examined whether the same effects hold for young girls. Study 1 demonstrated that college students attributed lower mental capacity and lower moral status to girls dressed in revealing attire in the same way, and to the same degree, as they viewed sexually mature women. In Study 2, we replicated this finding and found that objectifying perceptions are associated with less sympathetic responses to girls in a bullying scenario. Participants showed less care that sexually objectified girls had been harmed, less favorable attitudes towards helping them, and a greater belief that the girls were responsible for being victimized. Taken together, these findings suggest that the potentially damaging manifestations and consequences of objectification are manifest before girls reach womanhood. We suggest recommendations for reducing the sexualization of young girls.
Past studies have found that East Asians ascribe less consistency to individual selves than Weste... more Past studies have found that East Asians ascribe less consistency to individual selves than Westerners, but ascribe more consistency to social groups than Westerners. Using the concepts of naive dialecticism (i.e. the tendency to tolerate contradiction) and psychological essentialism (i.e. the tendency to attribute a fixed essence to something) as different aspects of consistency perception, we examined patterns of perceived consistency of the self and national ingroup among Japanese and Australians. Compared to Australians, Japanese showed more naive dialecticism and less psychological essentialism for the self; however, this cultural difference was not found for their national ingroups. These findings suggest that lay theories are applied in a domain-specific manner, and the domains to which they are applied depend on culture.
Neuman has made an ambitious attempt to integrate perspectives on the psychology of personality t... more Neuman has made an ambitious attempt to integrate perspectives on the psychology of personality that usually run in parallel. The field calls to mind the fable of the blind men and the elephant: each perspective makes different claims about the person based on the aspect it apprehends. Neuman links cognition, affective neuroscience and psychodynamics in a bold effort to sketch the entire beast. However, his hefty framework has some elephantine elements, and is at times conceptually loose and baggy.
Although the negative ramifications of others objectifying the female body are well established, ... more Although the negative ramifications of others objectifying the female body are well established, little research has examined whether certain portrayals of women are more susceptible to being objectified. The present study sought to examine the effect of two target characteristics-body size and clothing style-on objectification. One hundred and ninety-one Australian undergraduate participants (95 female; M age ¼ 19.35 years) viewed either an image of an overweight woman or a thin woman, who was either dressed in plain clothes or lingerie. Participants then completed three tasks measuring their objectification of the woman to include attributions of mind, attributions of moral status, and a dot probe task assessing attention towards the target's body relative to the face. Results indicate that overweight women, as well as those dressed in plain clothing, were attributed more agentic mental states and moral value, as well as elicited less of the objectifying gaze, than thin targets and those wearing lingerie. These findings suggest that contrary to popular opinion, there may be unforeseen benefits of being overweight.
This chapter explores the ways in which the concept of "humanness" illuminates a wide and fascina... more This chapter explores the ways in which the concept of "humanness" illuminates a wide and fascinating variety of psychological phenomena. After introducing the concept-everyday understandings of what it is to be humanwe present a model of the diverse ways in which humanness can be denied to people. According to this model people may be perceived as lacking uniquely human characteristics, and thus likened to animals, or as lacking human nature, and thus likened to inanimate objects. Both of these forms of dehumanization occur with varying degrees of subtlety, from the explicit uses of derogatory animal metaphors, to stereotypes that ascribe lesser humanness or simpler minds to particular groups, to nonconscious associations between certain humans and nonhumans. After reviewing research on dehumanization through the lens of our model we examine additional topics that the psychology of humanness clarifies, notably the perception of nonhuman animals and the objectification of women. Humanness emerges as a concept that runs an integrating thread through a variety of research literatures.
Taxometric research methods were developed by Paul Meehl and colleagues to distinguish between ca... more Taxometric research methods were developed by Paul Meehl and colleagues to distinguish between categorical and dimensional models of latent variables. We have conducted a comprehensive review of published taxometric research that included 177 articles, 311 distinct findings and a combined sample of 533 377 participants. Multilevel logistic regression analyses have examined the methodological and substantive variables associated with taxonic (categorical) findings. Although 38.9 % of findings were taxonic, these findings were much less frequent in more recent and methodologically stronger studies, and in those reporting comparative fit indices based on simulated comparison data. When these and other possible confounds were statistically controlled, the true prevalence of taxonic findings was estimated at 14 %. The domains of normal personality, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, externalizing disorders, and personality disorders (PDs) other than schizotypal yielded little persuasive evidence of taxa. Promising but still not definitive evidence of psychological taxa was confined to the domains of schizotypy, substance use disorders and autism. This review indicates that most latent variables of interest to psychiatrists and personality and clinical psychologists are dimensional, and that many influential taxonic findings of early taxometric research are likely to be spurious.
• Assessed visual attention to targets in dominant vs. submissive nonverbal postures • People ave... more • Assessed visual attention to targets in dominant vs. submissive nonverbal postures • People avert their gaze from faces and upper bodies of others displaying dominance. • However, they gaze more at the legs of those displaying dominance (vs. submission). • This may allow observers to monitor the movements of threatening, dominant others. a b s t r a c t This paper investigates whether humans avert their gaze from individuals engaging in nonverbal displays of dominance. Although past studies demonstrate that both humans and nonhuman primates direct more visual attention to high-status others than low-status others, non-human primates avert their gaze when high-status conspecifics engage in nonverbal dominance displays (e.g., chest pounding). In two experiments, participants were eye-tracked while viewing photographs of men and women adopting either dominant, high-power (i.e., expansive and open) or submissive, low-power (i.e., contractive and closed) nonverbal postures. Results demonstrated that humans, like primates, avert their gaze from the faces and upper bodies of individuals displaying dominance compared to those displaying submissiveness. Not only did participants look less often at the faces and upper bodies of dominance-displaying individuals, they also fixated on these regions for shorter durations. Our findings ultimately suggest that nonverbal dominance displays influence humans' visual attention in ways that are likely to shape how social interactions unfold.
Sexual objectification, particularly of young women, is highly prevalent in modern industrialized... more Sexual objectification, particularly of young women, is highly prevalent in modern industrialized societies. Although there is plenty of experimental and cross-sectional research on objectification, prospective studies investigating the prevalence and psychological impact of objectifying events in daily life are scarce. We used ecological momentary assessment to track the occurrence of objectifying events over 1 week in the daily lives of young women (N = 81). Participants reported being targeted by a sexually objectifying event – most often the objectifying gaze – approximately once every 2 days and reported witnessing sexual objectification of others approximately 1.35 times per day. Further, multilevel linear regression analyses showed that being targeted by sexual objectification was associated with a substantial increase in state self-objectification. Overall, individual differences had little impact in moderating these effects. In October 2014, domestic violence activist group 'Hollaback!' posted a video on YouTube to highlight the prevalence of street harassment and objectification in the lives of young women. The video shows hidden camera footage of a woman dressed in jeans and a black crew neck T-shirt walking the streets of New York City for ten hours. Over the course of the day, the camera recorded over 100 instances of objectifying behaviour directed towards her, including verbal harassment, stares, winks, whistles, and crude gestures. This video quickly went viral, amassing over 42 million views on YouTube as of March 2016. While public interest in the sexual objectification of women may ebb and flow, a steady stream of research on the topic has emerged over the last two decades, following in the footsteps of Fredrickson and Roberts's (1997) influential paper on 'Objectification Theory'. Yet, due to a lack of naturalistic studies we still know very little about the prevalence and psychological impact of sexual objectification in daily life. Most research on the prevalence of sexually objectifying events has relied on one-shot retrospective
In two studies, we examined the impact of sexualization of prepubescent girls on college students... more In two studies, we examined the impact of sexualization of prepubescent girls on college students’ perceptions of girls’ mental capacity and moral standing. Previous research has shown that women depicted in sexualized and other body-focused ways are perceived as lacking mental capacities and moral standing; these perceptions reduce concern about them when they are victimized. However, no other research to date has examined whether the same effects hold for young girls. Study 1 demonstrated that college students attributed lower mental capacity and lower moral status to girls dressed in revealing attire in the same way, and to the same degree, as they viewed sexually mature women. In Study 2, we replicated this finding and found that objectifying perceptions are associated with less sympathetic responses to girls in a bullying scenario. Participants showed less care that sexually objectified girls had been harmed, less favorable attitudes towards helping them, and a greater belief that the girls were responsible for being victimized. Taken together, these findings suggest that the potentially damaging manifestations and consequences of objectification are manifest before girls reach womanhood. We suggest recommendations for reducing the sexualization of young girls.
Past studies have found that East Asians ascribe less consistency to individual selves than Weste... more Past studies have found that East Asians ascribe less consistency to individual selves than Westerners, but ascribe more consistency to social groups than Westerners. Using the concepts of naive dialecticism (i.e. the tendency to tolerate contradiction) and psychological essentialism (i.e. the tendency to attribute a fixed essence to something) as different aspects of consistency perception, we examined patterns of perceived consistency of the self and national ingroup among Japanese and Australians. Compared to Australians, Japanese showed more naive dialecticism and less psychological essentialism for the self; however, this cultural difference was not found for their national ingroups. These findings suggest that lay theories are applied in a domain-specific manner, and the domains to which they are applied depend on culture.
Neuman has made an ambitious attempt to integrate perspectives on the psychology of personality t... more Neuman has made an ambitious attempt to integrate perspectives on the psychology of personality that usually run in parallel. The field calls to mind the fable of the blind men and the elephant: each perspective makes different claims about the person based on the aspect it apprehends. Neuman links cognition, affective neuroscience and psychodynamics in a bold effort to sketch the entire beast. However, his hefty framework has some elephantine elements, and is at times conceptually loose and baggy.
Although the negative ramifications of others objectifying the female body are well established, ... more Although the negative ramifications of others objectifying the female body are well established, little research has examined whether certain portrayals of women are more susceptible to being objectified. The present study sought to examine the effect of two target characteristics-body size and clothing style-on objectification. One hundred and ninety-one Australian undergraduate participants (95 female; M age ¼ 19.35 years) viewed either an image of an overweight woman or a thin woman, who was either dressed in plain clothes or lingerie. Participants then completed three tasks measuring their objectification of the woman to include attributions of mind, attributions of moral status, and a dot probe task assessing attention towards the target's body relative to the face. Results indicate that overweight women, as well as those dressed in plain clothing, were attributed more agentic mental states and moral value, as well as elicited less of the objectifying gaze, than thin targets and those wearing lingerie. These findings suggest that contrary to popular opinion, there may be unforeseen benefits of being overweight.
This chapter explores the ways in which the concept of "humanness" illuminates a wide and fascina... more This chapter explores the ways in which the concept of "humanness" illuminates a wide and fascinating variety of psychological phenomena. After introducing the concept-everyday understandings of what it is to be humanwe present a model of the diverse ways in which humanness can be denied to people. According to this model people may be perceived as lacking uniquely human characteristics, and thus likened to animals, or as lacking human nature, and thus likened to inanimate objects. Both of these forms of dehumanization occur with varying degrees of subtlety, from the explicit uses of derogatory animal metaphors, to stereotypes that ascribe lesser humanness or simpler minds to particular groups, to nonconscious associations between certain humans and nonhumans. After reviewing research on dehumanization through the lens of our model we examine additional topics that the psychology of humanness clarifies, notably the perception of nonhuman animals and the objectification of women. Humanness emerges as a concept that runs an integrating thread through a variety of research literatures.
Taxometric research methods were developed by Paul Meehl and colleagues to distinguish between ca... more Taxometric research methods were developed by Paul Meehl and colleagues to distinguish between categorical and dimensional models of latent variables. We have conducted a comprehensive review of published taxometric research that included 177 articles, 311 distinct findings and a combined sample of 533 377 participants. Multilevel logistic regression analyses have examined the methodological and substantive variables associated with taxonic (categorical) findings. Although 38.9 % of findings were taxonic, these findings were much less frequent in more recent and methodologically stronger studies, and in those reporting comparative fit indices based on simulated comparison data. When these and other possible confounds were statistically controlled, the true prevalence of taxonic findings was estimated at 14 %. The domains of normal personality, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, externalizing disorders, and personality disorders (PDs) other than schizotypal yielded little persuasive evidence of taxa. Promising but still not definitive evidence of psychological taxa was confined to the domains of schizotypy, substance use disorders and autism. This review indicates that most latent variables of interest to psychiatrists and personality and clinical psychologists are dimensional, and that many influential taxonic findings of early taxometric research are likely to be spurious.
Uploads
Papers by Elise Holland