Abstract

The sexualization of women in advertisements remains a controversial form of media, specifically infantilization. Infantilization is defined as the portrayal of adult women acting and looking childish through attire and demeanor. This study examines consumers’ perceptions of infantilized women in advertisements. Students (n = 100) from a 4-year university participated in an online questionnaire examining measures of morality, objectionability, and ubiquity of five advertisements. Three out of the five advertisements display infantilized female models. The others show women in a non-infantilizing manner. A single chi-square conducted on the participants found significant differences in if students can correctly identify in ads. Additionally, a series of analyses of variance (ANOVA) also found significant differences between males and females in their perception of the infantilization of women in advertisements. Overall, the results indicated that participants incorrectly identified infantilization, and males rated it lower in morality and higher in objectionability than females. These findings support the need for a more critical analysis of the infantilization of women.

Thesis Completion

2022

Semester

Fall

Thesis Chair/Advisor

Wright, Chrysalis

Degree

Bachelor of Science (B.S.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Psychology, Clinical track

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Release Date

12-15-2022

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