By Karim Hammam
A new study has revealed that mild electrical stimulation to the brain can reduce the cognitive bias associated with the sexual objectification of women. Research conducted by the University of Exeter suggests that applying a mild electrical current to the scalp can alter how the visual system processes sexualized images.
Visual Processing and Objectification
Previous research established that humans generally recognize faces and bodies more efficiently when they are upright compared to when they are upside down. However, studies showed that this "upright advantage" is significantly reduced when viewing sexualized images of women, suggesting they are processed more like inanimate objects rather than people. This pattern was not observed with images of men, indicating a gender-based processing bias.
Study Methodology and Results
The study, published in the journal Social Neuroscience, involved 76 students. Participants were asked to memorize sexualized images of female models in various orientations. Half of the participants received ten minutes of mild electrical stimulation to the scalp, while the control group received a 30-second placebo stimulation. Neither the researchers nor the participants knew which group received the active treatment.
The results showed that in the placebo group, the objectification bias remained, with images of women being processed similarly to objects. Conversely, in the group receiving electrical stimulation, the recognition of upright images of women improved, effectively removing the processing difference between how images of men and women were perceived.
Implications for Understanding Bias
Professor Ciro Civile, who led the research, noted that sexual objectification involves treating a person as a body to be used rather than a whole individual. He emphasized that while brain stimulation is not a cure for sexism and the study did not measure changes in behavior or attitudes, the findings provide evidence that the visual processing of such images can be temporarily altered.
Unlike previous studies that attempted to reduce bias by changing the images or the viewer's mindset, this research acted directly on the brain of the viewer. This approach suggests that the bias lies in how the brain processes images rather than the content of the images themselves, offering new perspectives on how gender-based biases arise in human perception.
