The Protective Role of Autonomous Motivation Against the Effects of the “Muscular Ideal” on Men’s Self-Objectification, Appearance Schema Activation, and Cognitive Performance

The objective of this 3-study research program was to identify and understand whether self-objectification (i.e., mediator) and motivation orientation (i.e., autonomous versus controlled; moderators) influenced men’s cognitive functioning following exposure to advertisements portraying the male muscular ideal. Overall, we aimed to (a) test an original moderated mediation model to further understand the complexities of men’s body image outcomes and (b) assess the moderating roles of autonomous and controlled motivation to understand its potential relationship with men’s body image. Using objectification theory and self-determination theory as frameworks to situate our models, we explored whether the muscular ideal, compared to the neutral video group, negatively affected men’s cognitive functioning using 3 different cognitive tasks intended to measure appearance schema activation (Study 1), visual-spatial processing (Study 2), and processing proficiency (Study 3). Results showed that the muscular ideal induced a state of self-objectification among men, which in turn, mediated viewer’s levels of appearance schema activation. Findings also revealed that autonomous motivation moderated the effects. High levels of autonomous motivation played a protective role on viewer’s cognitive performance on all three mental tasks, whereas controlled motivation did not predict any relationships. Implications and future directions are discussed.