Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026

Methods for Presenting Real-world Objects Under Controlled Laboratory Conditions
Published on: June 21, 2019
On the Nature of Objectification: Implications of Considering People as Means to Goals
Edward Orehek1, Casey G Weaverling1
1University of Pittsburgh.
Abstract:
People are objectified when they are treated as a means to a goal. The most common example is when women are sexually objectified and reduced to their physical appearance, sexuality, or individual body parts. In such instances, people are used in the same way as objects and are evaluated according to their instrumentality to the others' goals. The aim of this paper is to gain a better understanding of objectification. We will (a) outline basic principles of means-goal relations during goal pursuit, (b) review research in which people are means to goals, (c) explain objectification according to a means-goal psychology in which people serve as means to goals, and (d) explain the implications of our account for the consequences of objectification. Specifically, we argue objectification is inevitable and that the consequences of objectification, including its morality, depend on the goal to which a person serves and whether the objectified person wants to serve that goal.
Related Concept Videos
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
Stereotype Content Model
Factors Influencing Attraction II: Physical Attraction
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Humanistic Psychology
This approach...
Attribution Theory

