Workers' self-objectification and reduced activism against inequalities: The role of beliefs in personal free will and system justification

In the present work, we analysed a broader impact of self-objectification at the workplace, that is the workers’ undermined intentions to protest against the existing social inequalities. In doing so, we conducted a cross-sectional study involving factory workers (N = 156). A serial mediation model showed that their self-objectification, in terms of decreased self-attribution of humanness and increased self-perception as instrument-like, was linked to diminished beliefs in personal free will which, in turn, was associated with increased system justification and decreased activist tendencies. Theoretical contributions for self-objectification literature and practical implications in the maintenance of the existing social inequalities are discussed.