A Systematic Review of Research on Self-Sexualization

The self-sexualization of women is an important issue as sexualization is believed to support the low status of women and contribute to body related anxieties and concerns as well as results in negative perceptions by others. Our research purpose was to systematically review the available research in this area. Thirty-one journal articles published from 2007 to 2020 were reviewed. In our review, we focused on what theories were used in self-sexualization research? what measures of self-sexualization were employed? and what are the major findings? Important precursors to self-sexualization include exposure to media and social media, self-objectification, internalization of sexualization, and desiring attention from others. Empowerment has been studied as an outcome of self-sexualization along with negative inferences concerning both young women and girls that self-sexualize. Future research opportunities exist in theory development and scale development in order to strengthen and build research in self-sexualization.