Miguel Cameira

Attitudes Towards Same-Sex Marriage in Portugal: Predictors and Scale Validation

The goal of the present research was to validate a Portuguese version of Pearl and Galupos (2007) Attitudes toward Same-Sex Marriage Scale (ATSM). Participants were 1,402 heterosexual men and women that completed an on-line questionnaire. The final 15-item scale formed a single factor showing high internal consistency (α = .95). This one factor structure was backed-up by a confirmatory factorial analysis. In a general way, the results indicate a clearly positive attitude toward same-sex marriage (overall mean was 63.79, SD = 12.66, above the scale mid-point, t(1401) = 55.55, p < .001). Furthermore, analysis of the scales predictors demonstrates how a left-wing orientation (β = .22, p < .001) and the level of denial of deservingness for lesbian/gay discrimination (β = .30, p < .001) prove to be the best predictors of attitudes towards same-sex marriage. On the whole, these results indicate that the Portuguese ATSM version is a reliable instrument for carrying out scientific research and measuring and monitoring public opinion on this subject.

Gender Norms in Portuguese College Students’ Judgments in Familial Homicides Bad Men and Mad Women

The gender of the offender has been proved to be an important factor in judicial sentencing. In this study, we analyze the judgments of College students regarding perpetrators of familial homicides to evaluate the presence of these gender norms and biases in the larger society. The sample included 303 college students (54.8% female) enrolled in several social sciences and engineering courses. Participants were asked to read 12 vignettes based on real crimes taken from Portuguese newspapers. Half were related to infanticide, and half were related to intimate partner homicide. The sex of the offender was orthogonally manipulated to the type of crime. The results show that gender had an important impact on sentences, with males being more harshly penalized by reasons of perversity and women less penalized by reason of mental disorders. In addition, filicide was more heavily penalized than was intimate partner homicide. The results also revealed a tendency toward a retributive conception of punishment. We discuss how gender norms in justice seem to be embedded in society as well as the need for intervention against the punitive tendency of this population.

Reactions to Intragroup Deviance: Does Disidentification Have a Role?

ABSTRACT In this study, we address previous evidence about the interchangeable use of derogation and disidentification in protecting the self from intragroup deviance. We argue that when the in-group stands for a valued social identity, members may disidentify from the group, but only if the immediate context provides no opportunity to derogate. In the present experiments (n = 80 and n = 79), we provided or did not provide participants with the opportunity to recommend a punishment for an in-group or an out-group deviant. We also measured in-group identification before and after exposure to deviant behavior and after judgment. The results show that participants first disidentified from the in-group but, when presented with an opportunity to judge the deviant, also derogated. Importantly, participants who could judge the deviant also recovered their initial in-group identification level. Participants’ reactions to the out-group deviant suggest they used an intergroup rather than intragroup strategy.

Men and women’s prisons in the Portuguese press: the gender of punishment

Since prison life is out of common people’s sight, the media have a particularly important role in legitimating or, conversely, de-legitimating public discourses and policies about punishment, incarceration and rehabilitation. In the present study, our analysis was grounded in 83 news, 55 of these about men prisons, 24 about women prisons and 4 news about public policies in general, although having specificities about men’s and women’s prisons published in a Portuguese national newspaper between 2005 and 2014. The analysis suggests that, with very few exceptions, gender is an important issue in the media construction for mens and womens prisons and male and female inmates; gender norms of masculinity and femininity are essentialized, justifying different practices of control in prison policies. Dangerous, violent, resistant and manipulative male inmates call for prison policies based on risk control and managerialism, whereas docile and reliable female inmates call for policies grounded on rehabilitation but also security. Apart from this representation, our analysis also shows that the news, in general, tends to align with a reformist approach, failing to interrogate the wider role of imprisonment in social control or to discuss its alternatives.

Deconstructing idealized motherhood: the extreme case of neonaticidal women

In this article, we provide a feminist perspective on neonaticidal women while critically examining the mainstream literature. We analyze 26 cases reported between 2003 and 2013 in a Portuguese online newspaper. We conclude that neonaticide must be framed by two main lines of thought: Motherhood is a social construction that imposes difficult-to-achieve norms, and it is a complex experience, intercepted by age, social class, marital status, and having other children. This approach should encourage a shift from the present focus on palliative and punitive measures to a more preemptive one including new policies on sexual education and pregnancy termination.

P148 Work-home interaction as predictor of engagement among family health units

Background Work and family can influence each other in a negative and positive way (Geurts et al., 2005; Jaga et al., 2013; Moreno-Jiménez et al., 2009), having consequences for health professionals, families and work domain (Amstad et al., 2011; Mcnall et al., 2010). One of its important consequences is work engagement (Kacmar et al., 2014; Martin, 2013), being negatively related with negative work-home interaction (Rothmann & Baumann, 2014), and positively related with positive work-home interaction (Montalbán et al., 2012). Aims To identify work-home interaction and engagement levels among professionals of Family Health Units (doctors, nurses, clinical secretaries) and to analyse the correlation between these two variables, searching work-home interaction as predictor of engagement. Method Data were collected using anonymous questionnaires composed by socio-demographic questions and Portuguese versions of SWING (Geurts et al., 2005; Pereira et al., 2014) and UWES (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2003; Marques-Pinto & Picado, 2011). Participated 263 professionals (120 doctors, 92 nurses, 51 clinical secretaries), with mean age of 40 years, 78% female, 67% married, 64% with children and 80% working 40 hours per week. Results Professionals reported moderate levels of negative work-home interaction (M = 1.10 on 1–3 scale), low levels of negative home-work interaction (M = 0.58) and moderate levels of positive work-home interaction (M = 1.15) and positive home-work interaction (M = 1.30). Engagement dimensions were high (vigour M = 4.4, dedication M = 4.6, absorption M = 4.4 on 0–6 scale). Correlations were found and vwas predicted by 20% of work-home interaction and 5% of socio-demographics characteristics; dedication by 19% of work-home interaction, and absorption by 8% of work-home interaction and 8% of socio-demographics characteristics. Conclusions Despite professionals presented high work engagement, these results support that work is the main source of negative influence and family is source of positive influence. It’s important to Family Health Units implement actions that promote work-home interaction, being workplaces family-friendly and healthy workplaces.