Abstract as per original application
(English/Chinese): |
Objectification refers to a person being treated as an object for the instrumental gain of another person. Prior studies have built up knowledge about its impacts but have mainly been confined to sexual contexts, such as men treating women as objects to fulfill their sexual demands. Nonsexual objectification has seldom been investigated, although it commonly occurs in a wide variety of contexts, such as the workplace (e.g., discrediting a subordinate’s work to augment one’s own achievement), schools (e.g., befriending hard-working classmates to get a free ride), and close relationships (e.g., demanding a spouse to provide monetary resources). To fill this knowledge gap, this research tests whether nonsexual objectification increases conspiracy beliefs, reveals the underlying psychological mechanism and the behavioral consequences of the objectification-conspiracy link, and identifies ways to weaken the effect of objectification on conspiracy beliefs.
Objectification occurs when people are treated as instrumental tools for achieving another person’s own purposes and are evaluated merely based on their usefulness to that person. Following objectification, people feel threatened because they are deprived of autonomy, needs, and opportunities. Consequently, objectified people may have a greater need for closure, which refers to a cognitive state wherein people have a greater desire to seek answers to questions and make sense of uncertainties. We propose that in such a state, objectified people may endorse conspiracy beliefs to comprehend the causes of threatening situations and identify possible dangers without exerting too much cognitive effort. Therefore, we predict that objectification increases conspiracy beliefs through the need for closure. We also examine whether post-objectification increases in conspiracy beliefs motivate people to behave unethically. Because conspiracy theorists often perceive others as possessing malevolent intentions, we predict that objectification increases unethical tendencies through conspiracy beliefs. When objectified people’s conspiracy beliefs are weakened through interventions, they may not behave unethically.
Adopting a multi-method approach, this research tests the effect of objectification on conspiracy beliefs and its underlying psychological mechanism, demonstrates how post-objectification increases in conspiracy beliefs influence unethical behavior, and investigates methods to weaken the effects of objectification on conspiracy beliefs and unethical behavior. Objectification, conspiracy beliefs, and unethical behavior are ubiquitous in everyday life; hence, it is of significant impact to examine their relationships. A thorough understanding of the mechanism underlying the relationships between objectification, conspiracy beliefs, and unethical behavior can facilitate the development of theory-driven interventions to combat the negative consequences following objectification and form harmonious social interactions within our society.
被物化是指人被別人當作是可以利用來獲得利益的物件。以往的研究對於被物化的影響累積了一定的基礎知識，但主要側重於與性物化有關的範疇，例如男性把女性視為滿足其性需求的對象。與性無關的被物化則甚少被研究，儘管它經常出現於各種社交場合中，例如在工作上不認可下屬的功勞以增加自己的成就，在學校裏與勤奮的同學交朋友以便不勞而獲，以及在親密關係中要求伴侶提供金錢資源等。為填補文獻中的知識缺口，本研究旨在探討被別人物化會否提高人們的陰謀論信念，揭示這關係背後的心理機制，以及其導致的行為後果，並找出干預方案來減弱被物化對陰謀論信念的影響。由於被物化者往往被視為協助實現別人目標的工具，他們的存在價值只建基於他們對別人來說有用與否。當人們被物化後，他們的自主權、基本需求和機會被別人剝奪，因此他們會感受到威脅及變得脆弱。我們提出被物化會增加人們的結論需求，令人們有更大的動機去尋求問題的答案及處理環境中的不確定性。按照這個邏輯，本研究提出被物化或會提高人們的陰謀論信念。在被物化後，人們希望以較少的認知資源來辨識環境中的潛在危險和理解事件背後的原因。因此，被物化會增加人們的結論需求，從而增加陰謀論信念。本研究還會更進一步探討陰謀論信念會否促使被物化者做出不道德行為。由於相信陰謀論者經常會認為他人懷有惡意，被物化後所增加的陰謀論信念或會鼓勵人們進行不道德行為。當被物化後所產生的陰謀論信念被干預方案削弱時，被物化的人應該不會進行不道德行為。我們將採用多重研究方法，以探討被物化對陰謀論信念的影響，揭示兩者之間的心理機制，分析陰謀論信念如何使被物化者傾向做出不道德行為，並尋找干預方案以減弱被物化對陰謀論信念和不道德行為的影響。物化、陰謀論信念和不道德行為在日常生活中無處不在，剖析三者之間的關係具有重大的社會意義。 本研究亦能推動介入措施的發展，以幫助人們更有效地應對被物化所帶來的負面後果，有助建構社會和諧。
|
