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Chapter 73 - Enjoyment of Sexualization Scale (ESS)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2025

By
Miriam Liss  and
Mindy J. Erchull
Edited by
Virginia Ramseyer Winter ,
Tracy L. Tylka  and
Antoinette M. Landor
Virginia Ramseyer Winter
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Tracy L. Tylka
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Antoinette M. Landor
Affiliation:
University of Missouri
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Summary

The 8-item Enjoyment of Sexualization scale (ESS; Liss et al., 2011) assesses the extent to which women report enjoying sexualized attention from men. The ESS can be administered online or in person and is free to use in any setting. It was validated on heterosexual women but has also been used reliably with lesbian women. Other versions have been developed for use specifically men as well people with diverse gender identities. This chapter first discusses the development of the ESS and then provides evidence of its psychometrics. More specifically, the ESS has been found to have a single-factor structure within exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and has been found to have high internal consistency reliability as well as convergent and discriminant validity. Next, this chapter provides the ESS items in their entirety, instructions for administering the ESS to participants, the item response scale, and the scoring procedure. Known translations are provided, and logistics of use, such as permissions, copyright, instructions for use of alternative versions, and contact information, are provided for readers.

Keywords

Enjoyment of Sexualization ScaleESSsexualizationitemsself-sexualizationheterosexual womenscale developmentpsychometric evidencefactor structurereliabilityvalidityadministrationscoringtranslations

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Chapter
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Handbook of Body Image-Related Measures , pp. 222 - 224
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Erchull, M. J., & Liss, M. (2013). Exploring the concept of perceived female sexual empowerment: Development and validation of the Sex is Power Scale. Gender Issues, 30, 39–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-013-9114-6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erchull, M. J., & Liss, M. (2013). Feminists who flaunt it: Exploring the enjoyment of sexualization among young feminist women. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(12), 2341–2349. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erchull, M. J., & Liss, M. (2015). Clinical outcomes of enjoying sexualization among lesbian women. Journal of Homosexuality, 62(3), 340–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2014.972808.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liss, M. Erchull, M. J., & Ramsey, L. R. (2011). Empowering or oppressing? Development and exploration of the Enjoyment of Sexualization Scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(1), 55–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210386119.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swami, V., & Barron, D. (2019). Translation and validation of body image instruments: Challenges, good practice guidelines, and reporting recommendations for test adaptation. Body Image, 31, 204–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2018.08.014.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Swami, V., Todd, J., & Barron, D. (2021). Translation and validation of body image instruments: An addendum to Swami and Barron (2019) in the form of frequently asked questions. Body Image, 37, 214–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.03.002.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Visser, B. A., Stiner, E. R., & Doyle, L. A. (2022). The ESS-R: An enjoyment of sexualization scale for diverse populations. Sexuality & Culture, 26, 1684–1710. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-09963-9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Visser, B. A., Sultani, F., Choma, B. L., & Pozzebon, J. A. (2014). Enjoyment of sexualization: Is it different for men? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44(7), 495–504. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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