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Self-Objectification, Body Surveillance, and Body Shame Across Countries: A Comparison Between US, UK, Belgian, Israeli, and Thai Women Cover

Self-Objectification, Body Surveillance, and Body Shame Across Countries: A Comparison Between US, UK, Belgian, Israeli, and Thai Women

Open Access
|Mar 2026

Abstract

Cross-national research on self-objectification remains notably limited. The present study investigated the associations between self-objectification, body surveillance, and body shame among women in Belgium (N = 239), the United Kingdom (N = 213), and the United States of America (N = 159) in Study 1, and in Belgium (N = 209), Israel (N = 299), and Thailand (N = 230) in Study 2. In Study 1, employing the Likert version of the Self-Objectification Questionnaire (LSOQ), we demonstrated that self-objectification indirectly predicts body shame through body surveillance in the case of Belgian, UK, and US women. In Study 2, we successfully replicated these indirect effects among Belgian, Israeli, and Thai women. This research stands as one of the first empirical, cross-national investigations of the improved self-objectification scale, evidencing the robust association between self-objectification, body surveillance, and body shame across countries.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/pb.1387 | Journal eISSN: 0033-2879
Language: English
Submitted on: Feb 28, 2025
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Accepted on: Jan 9, 2026
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Published on: Mar 4, 2026
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2026 Robin Wollast, Liesje Coertjens, Philippe Bernard, Anat Talmon, James J. Gross, Olivier Klein, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.