Exploring the mediating role of self-objectification between sexual harassment, disordered eating, and psychological distress

Abstract

Background: Sexual harassment perpetrated by strangers in public and semi-public contexts is increasingly recognised as a public health issue. Despite the high prevalence of stranger harassment, past research has focused primarily on sexual harassment in workplace settings (i.e. nonstranger harassment), finding negative outcomes such as high self-objectification, disordered eating and psychological distress. The current study aimed to examine whether there are similar health risk outcomes associated with stranger harassment. It was hypothesised that self-objectification would mediate the relationship between both types of sexual harassment and psychological outcomes. Method: Participants were 611 women who completed an online survey assessing stranger and nonstranger harassment, self-objectification, disordered eating and psychological distress. Results: Preliminary results using structural equation modelling indicated that self-objectification partially mediated the relationship between nonstranger harassment, disordered eating and psychological distress. In contrast neither mediated relationship was significant for stranger harassment. Both types of sexual harassment were significant predictors of disordered eating and psychological distress. Discussion: The hypothesis was only partially supported, suggesting that outcomes related to nonstranger harassment do not necessarily generalise to the stranger harassment context. Longitudinal and qualitative studies are now needed to further understand the nature of the relationships.