Sarah K Murnen
Biographic Data
| ID | 1660661 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sarah K Murnen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sarah K |
| FAMILY NAME | Murnen |
| SIGNATURE | MURNEN S K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Kenyon College |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4980-8863 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 534 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 31 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1989 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 14 |
Feminism, Femininity, and Negative Embodiment
Previous work has examined the relations between feminism, feminine gender roles, and body image concerns with inconclusive findings. The purpose of this study was to conduct an updated meta-analysis of the relation between feminist identity and negative embodiment, and to conduct new analyses to test how endorsement of femininity relates to negative embodiment. Through the technique of meta-analysis, we analyzed 80 studies (87 samples, N = 24,30…
Masculinity and men’s drive for muscularity
Your Body Is Not Representative of Who You Are”
Negative body talk is a normative behavior among United States women and is an important area of intervention for women's health and well-being. Identifying as a feminist and/or endorsing feminist beliefs, which can promote a resistant stance toward cultural appearance standards, may protect against negative body talk. We conducted a mixed-methods study with an online sample of 447 predominantly White (81.1%) United States women between the ages …
Sexual Language Use in U.S. College Students Across Twenty Years
Is body dissatisfaction changing across time? A cross-temporal meta-analysis
It remains unclear whether body dissatisfaction, a widely recognized predictor of eating-related pathologies and depressive symptomatology, is consistent across cohorts and time. This question is important to investigate because dominant theories propose that sociocultural influences, which may fluctuate, play an important role in the development of body dissatisfaction. Previous efforts for tracking body dissatisfaction across cohorts and time a…
A social constructivist approach to understanding the relationship between masculinity and sexual aggression
Boys Act and Girls Appear
Sexualizing the Self
Self-sexualization refers to intentionally engaging in activities expressly to appear more sexually appealing. The purpose of our studies was to examine gender similarities and differences in how women and men conceptualize self-sexualization as well as introduce measures appropriate for large-scale data collection. In a qualitative study, we first established the existence of self-sexualization among women, although we were unable to document a …
Hot” girls and “cool dudes”
As children’s consumption of media increases, examining the messages prevalent in popular TV programs is central to understanding how children learn to view and understand gender. A coding scheme of themes of the “heterosexual script” related to gender, sexuality, and relationships developed by Kim
Low-Cut Shirts and High-Heeled Shoes
Too Sexualized to be Taken Seriously? Perceptions of a Girl in Childlike vs. Sexualizing Clothing
Putting on” Sexiness
Gender, Self-Objectification and Pubic Hair Removal
Social Considerations Related to Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Empowerment
“Everybody Knows That Mass Media are/are not [ pick one ] a Cause of Eating Disorders”
This article reviews research pertaining to mass media as a causal risk factor for negative body image and disordered eating in females. The specific purpose is to clarify the impact of mass media by applying seven criteria that extend those of Kraemer et al. (1997) and Stice (2002). Although media effects clearly meet a majority of the criteria, this analysis indicates that, currently, engagement with mass media is probably best considered a var…
Are Feminist Women Protected from Body Image Problems? A Meta-analytic Review of Relevant Research
Athletic Participation, Fraternity Membership, and Sexual Aggression Among College Men
Sociocultural Influences and Muscle Building in Adolescent Boys
Sociocultural influences on the use of muscle-building techniques, particularly food supplement and steroid use, were examined in a sample of 383 middle-school boys. A modified version of the tripartite influence model was evaluated with muscle-building techniques as the dependent variable. Results indicated that media, peer, and parent influences were independently related to the use of muscle-building techniques. Each was also partially mediate…
Fraternity Membership, the Display of Degrading Sexual Images of Women, and Rape Myth Acceptance
Learning to Be Little Women and Little Men
Thin, Sexy Women and Strong, Muscular Men
The effect of experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction
If “Boys Will Be Boys,” Then Girls Will Be Victims? A Meta-Analytic Review of the Research That Relates Masculine Ideology to Sexual Aggression
An Empowering Exploration of Women's Sexuality Across the Life Span
Gender and the Use of Sexually Degrading Language
Based on feminist social constructionist theory, it was proposed that the sexual language women and men used would reflect male sexual power over women through degradation and objectification. In the first study, 79 women and 88 men (36 of whom were fraternity members) reported anonymously on the sexual language they used. The strongest effects found were that men (particularly those in a fraternity) were likely to use sexually degrading terms to…
If “Boys Will Be Boys,” Then Girls Will Be Victims? A Meta-Analytic Review of the Research That Relates Masculine Ideology to Sexual Aggression
Hyperfemininity
Asocial control model of rape proposes that there are societal mechanisms including rape in place to maintain the power imbalance between males and females. One of the forces that perpetuates the problem of rape is traditional gender‐role socialization. A gender‐role model of rape characterizes males as aggressive initiators of sexual activity and women as passive participants. Research has established a link between extreme adherence to a male g…
Coping with unwanted sexual activity
It has been proposed that a traditional feminine gender role can influence how effectively a woman deals with unwanted sexual experiences. For example, passivity and nurturance might prohibit effective coping with unwanted sexual activity by leading a woman to blame herself and to continue in an adversarial sexual relationship. Thus, the present investigation was designed to examine women's responses and reactions to unwanted sexual episodes, inc…
Low-Cut Shirts and High-Heeled Shoes
Thin, Sexy Women and Strong, Muscular Men
The Experience of Sexual Harassment Among Grade-School Students
Sexualizing the Self
Self-sexualization refers to intentionally engaging in activities expressly to appear more sexually appealing. The purpose of our studies was to examine gender similarities and differences in how women and men conceptualize self-sexualization as well as introduce measures appropriate for large-scale data collection. In a qualitative study, we first established the existence of self-sexualization among women, although we were unable to document a …
Boys Act and Girls Appear
Too Sexualized to be Taken Seriously? Perceptions of a Girl in Childlike vs. Sexualizing Clothing
Learning to Be Little Women and Little Men
Fraternity Membership, the Display of Degrading Sexual Images of Women, and Rape Myth Acceptance
Gender and Self-Reported Sexual Arousal in Response to Sexual Stimuli
Sociocultural Influences and Muscle Building in Adolescent Boys
Sociocultural influences on the use of muscle-building techniques, particularly food supplement and steroid use, were examined in a sample of 383 middle-school boys. A modified version of the tripartite influence model was evaluated with muscle-building techniques as the dependent variable. Results indicated that media, peer, and parent influences were independently related to the use of muscle-building techniques. Each was also partially mediate…
Putting on” Sexiness
Is body dissatisfaction changing across time? A cross-temporal meta-analysis
It remains unclear whether body dissatisfaction, a widely recognized predictor of eating-related pathologies and depressive symptomatology, is consistent across cohorts and time. This question is important to investigate because dominant theories propose that sociocultural influences, which may fluctuate, play an important role in the development of body dissatisfaction. Previous efforts for tracking body dissatisfaction across cohorts and time a…
The repulsion hypothesis revisited
Gender, Self-Objectification and Pubic Hair Removal
Social Considerations Related to Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Empowerment
Gender and the Use of Sexually Degrading Language
Based on feminist social constructionist theory, it was proposed that the sexual language women and men used would reflect male sexual power over women through degradation and objectification. In the first study, 79 women and 88 men (36 of whom were fraternity members) reported anonymously on the sexual language they used. The strongest effects found were that men (particularly those in a fraternity) were likely to use sexually degrading terms to…
A social constructivist approach to understanding the relationship between masculinity and sexual aggression
Hyperfemininity and Influence
Murnen and Byrne (1991) have defined hyperfemininity as an exaggerated adherence to a feminine gender role as it relates to heterosexual relationships. Hyperfeminine women believe their success is determined by maintaining a romantic relationship with a man, and that their sexuality can be used to maintain this relationship. Extrapolating from theory concerning gender and status, including expectation states theory, it was hypothesized that a wom…
Feminism, Femininity, and Negative Embodiment
Previous work has examined the relations between feminism, feminine gender roles, and body image concerns with inconclusive findings. The purpose of this study was to conduct an updated meta-analysis of the relation between feminist identity and negative embodiment, and to conduct new analyses to test how endorsement of femininity relates to negative embodiment. Through the technique of meta-analysis, we analyzed 80 studies (87 samples, N = 24,30…
Masculinity and men’s drive for muscularity
Hot” girls and “cool dudes”
As children’s consumption of media increases, examining the messages prevalent in popular TV programs is central to understanding how children learn to view and understand gender. A coding scheme of themes of the “heterosexual script” related to gender, sexuality, and relationships developed by Kim
Coping with unwanted sexual activity
It has been proposed that a traditional feminine gender role can influence how effectively a woman deals with unwanted sexual experiences. For example, passivity and nurturance might prohibit effective coping with unwanted sexual activity by leading a woman to blame herself and to continue in an adversarial sexual relationship. Thus, the present investigation was designed to examine women's responses and reactions to unwanted sexual episodes, inc…
The repulsion hypothesis revisited
Hyperfemininity
Asocial control model of rape proposes that there are societal mechanisms including rape in place to maintain the power imbalance between males and females. One of the forces that perpetuates the problem of rape is traditional gender‐role socialization. A gender‐role model of rape characterizes males as aggressive initiators of sexual activity and women as passive participants. Research has established a link between extreme adherence to a male g…
Gender and Self-Reported Sexual Arousal in Response to Sexual Stimuli
Hyperfemininity and Influence
Murnen and Byrne (1991) have defined hyperfemininity as an exaggerated adherence to a feminine gender role as it relates to heterosexual relationships. Hyperfeminine women believe their success is determined by maintaining a romantic relationship with a man, and that their sexuality can be used to maintain this relationship. Extrapolating from theory concerning gender and status, including expectation states theory, it was hypothesized that a wom…
An Empowering Exploration of Women's Sexuality Across the Life Span
Gender and the Use of Sexually Degrading Language
Based on feminist social constructionist theory, it was proposed that the sexual language women and men used would reflect male sexual power over women through degradation and objectification. In the first study, 79 women and 88 men (36 of whom were fraternity members) reported anonymously on the sexual language they used. The strongest effects found were that men (particularly those in a fraternity) were likely to use sexually degrading terms to…
The Experience of Sexual Harassment Among Grade-School Students
The effect of experimental presentation of thin media images on body satisfaction
If “Boys Will Be Boys,” Then Girls Will Be Victims? A Meta-Analytic Review of the Research That Relates Masculine Ideology to Sexual Aggression
Thin, Sexy Women and Strong, Muscular Men
Learning to Be Little Women and Little Men
Sociocultural Influences and Muscle Building in Adolescent Boys
Sociocultural influences on the use of muscle-building techniques, particularly food supplement and steroid use, were examined in a sample of 383 middle-school boys. A modified version of the tripartite influence model was evaluated with muscle-building techniques as the dependent variable. Results indicated that media, peer, and parent influences were independently related to the use of muscle-building techniques. Each was also partially mediate…
Fraternity Membership, the Display of Degrading Sexual Images of Women, and Rape Myth Acceptance
Athletic Participation, Fraternity Membership, and Sexual Aggression Among College Men
“Everybody Knows That Mass Media are/are not [ pick one ] a Cause of Eating Disorders”
This article reviews research pertaining to mass media as a causal risk factor for negative body image and disordered eating in females. The specific purpose is to clarify the impact of mass media by applying seven criteria that extend those of Kraemer et al. (1997) and Stice (2002). Although media effects clearly meet a majority of the criteria, this analysis indicates that, currently, engagement with mass media is probably best considered a var…
Are Feminist Women Protected from Body Image Problems? A Meta-analytic Review of Relevant Research
Putting on” Sexiness
Gender, Self-Objectification and Pubic Hair Removal
Social Considerations Related to Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Empowerment
Too Sexualized to be Taken Seriously? Perceptions of a Girl in Childlike vs. Sexualizing Clothing
Hot” girls and “cool dudes”
As children’s consumption of media increases, examining the messages prevalent in popular TV programs is central to understanding how children learn to view and understand gender. A coding scheme of themes of the “heterosexual script” related to gender, sexuality, and relationships developed by Kim
Low-Cut Shirts and High-Heeled Shoes
Sexualizing the Self
Self-sexualization refers to intentionally engaging in activities expressly to appear more sexually appealing. The purpose of our studies was to examine gender similarities and differences in how women and men conceptualize self-sexualization as well as introduce measures appropriate for large-scale data collection. In a qualitative study, we first established the existence of self-sexualization among women, although we were unable to document a …
A social constructivist approach to understanding the relationship between masculinity and sexual aggression
Psychology (31 works) · Developmental psychology (24 works) · Social Psychology (22 works) · Social Psychology (21 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Gender Roles and Identity Studies (14 works) · Gender Studies (14 works) · Gender Studies (13 works) · Eating Disorders and Behaviors (12 works) · Human sexuality (10 works)