Self-objectification and self-silencing in relation to dissociative experiences among women

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of self- objectification and self-silencing to dissociative experiences in a non-clinical sample of women. Method: A total of 441 participants aged from 18 to 73 with a mean of 41.57±12.83 was reached via the Internet. The majority of the sample consisted of women with a high school or college degree (%69.4), that are actively employed (%60.8) and reported a household income above 10000 TL (%62.4). A Sociodemographic Information Form, Body Surveillance and Body Shame subscales of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale, the Silencing the Self Scale and Dissociative Experiences Scale were applied. The Independent Samples t-Test, Mann Whitney U test, Pearson's Correlation and Multiple Linear Regression were used for data analysis. Results: According to our study's findings, a significant positive relationship was observed between levels of self-objectification and dissociative experiences (r=.235, p<.01) and also between self-silencing and dissociative experiences (r=.362, p<.01). It was also found that self-objectification and self-silencing significantly predicted dissociative experiences (β=.122, p <.05; β=.295, p <.001). Conclusion: These findings indicate that, as self objectification and self silencing increased, dissociative experiences increased as well among our sample of women.