Zheng Panpan, Lyu Zhenyong
Yangzhou University, Jiangsu, China.
J Interpers Violence. 2025 May;40(9-10):2405-2423. doi: 10.1177/08862605241270065. Epub 2024 Aug 21.
Sexual harassment is a serious health issue prevalent on campuses worldwide, with significant implications for individuals' well-being. Past research has highlighted the close association between sexual harassment and eating disorders, yet little is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. This study aimed to investigate the potential mediating roles of self-objectification and self-control in linking sexual harassment to binge eating, drawing upon objectification theory and self-control resource theory. A sample of 801 Chinese female undergraduates, with a mean age of 19.60 years ( = 1.42), participated in the study by completing questionnaires on sexual harassment experience, self-objectification, self-control, and binge eating. The results indicated that sexual harassment experience exhibited a significant positive correlation with binge eating and self-objectification, while showing a negative correlation with self-control. And an increased frequency of sexual harassment experiences and self-objectification were associated with lower levels of self-control. Furthermore, mediation analyses utilizing Hayes' PROCESS macro (2013) for SPSS (Model 6) demonstrated that both self-objectification and self-control independently and sequentially mediated the relationship between sexual harassment and young women's binge eating. In other words, young women who had experienced sexual harassment were more likely to exhibit increased self-objectification, leading to decreased self-control and ultimately culminating in binge eating behaviors. This study provides valuable insights into how sexual harassment affects young women's binge eating by elucidating the mediating roles of self-objectification and self-control, thus enhancing our understanding of developing strategies to mitigate the negative consequences of experiencing sexual harassment.
性骚扰是一个在全球校园中普遍存在的严重健康问题，对个人幸福有着重大影响。过去的研究强调了性骚扰与饮食失调之间的密切关联，但对于这种关系背后的机制却知之甚少。本研究旨在利用客体化理论和自我控制资源理论，探讨自我客体化和自我控制在连接性骚扰与暴饮暴食之间的潜在中介作用。801名中国女大学生参与了这项研究，她们的平均年龄为19.60岁（标准差=1.42），通过完成关于性骚扰经历、自我客体化、自我控制和暴饮暴食的问卷来参与。结果表明，性骚扰经历与暴饮暴食和自我客体化呈显著正相关，而与自我控制呈负相关。性骚扰经历和自我客体化频率的增加与自我控制水平的降低有关。此外，使用Hayes的PROCESS宏（2013）对SPSS进行的中介分析（模型6）表明，自我客体化和自我控制都独立且依次中介了性骚扰与年轻女性暴饮暴食之间的关系。换句话说，经历过性骚扰的年轻女性更有可能表现出自我客体化增加，导致自我控制下降，最终导致暴饮暴食行为。本研究通过阐明自我客体化和自我控制的中介作用，为性骚扰如何影响年轻女性的暴饮暴食提供了有价值的见解，从而增强了我们对制定减轻经历性骚扰负面影响的策略的理解。
