Paola Villano

Perceptions of Trait Typicality in Gender Stereotypes: Examining the Role of Attribution and Categorization Processes

Gender stereotypes are understood as the ascription of different personality traits to men and women. Data from American and Italian samples showed that consistent with the attribution hypothesis, the estimated prevalence of a trait in a target group predicted perceptions of trait typicality well. In contrast, there was no support for the categorization hypothesis, according to which perceived differences in trait prevalence between groups should independently predict trait typicality. Nevertheless, participants overestimated gender differences in personality as predicted by the principle of intercategory accentuation. The implications of these findings for the rationality and accuracy of gender stereotyping are discussed.

ANTI-SEMITIC PREJUDICE IN ADOLESCENCE: AN ITALIAN STUDY ON SHARED BELIEFS '

A study was conducted in Bologna and Venice on a sample of 427 subjects to verify whether anti-Semitic prejudice is observed in Italy, if it has direct, violent expression (blatant prejudice), or if it assumes less evident forms (subtle prejudice). The sample was chosen to represent levels of contact with the Jewish community to check the contact hypothesis (Bologna for the no-contact condition and Venice for the contact-condition) in groups of different ages (adolescents, young people, and adults). We predicted a decrease in blatant prejudice by subjects living in contact with Jews, but no differences in subtle prejudice. Also adolescents, more sensitive to polarised choices, could be less tolerant towards Jews. One-way analysis of variance indicated evidence for anti-Semitic prejudice, whose typical expression was a lack of positive emotions towards Jews. In particular, the whole sample denied negative emotions, such as disregard, annoyance, and irritation, and did not report positive emotions, such as attraction or curiosity.

Attribution and Categorization Effects in the Representation of Gender Stereotypes

Social stereotypes involve judgments of how typical certain personality traits are of a group. According to the attribution hypothesis, judgments of trait typicality depend on the perceived prevalence of the trait in the target group. According to the categorization hypothesis, such judgments depend on the degree to which a trait is thought to be more or less prevalent in the target group than in a relevant comparison group. A study conducted with women and men as target groups showed that the attribution hypothesis fit the data best when typicality ratings were made in an absolute format. When, however, typicality ratings were made in a comparative format (how typical is the trait of women as compared with men?), both hypotheses received support. Analytical derivation, supported by empirical evidence, showed an inverse relationship between the size of perceived group differences and their weight given in stereotyping. Implications for stereotype measurement and the rationality of social perception are discussed.

Social Dominance Orientation and Prejudice in an Italian Sample

Social dominance orientation has been proposed as an important variable in the explanation of prejudice. For an Italian sample of 355, correlations with measures of blatant and subtle prejudice against migrant people showed social dominance orientation was positively related to blatant prejudice. Persons with less education scored higher on social dominance orientation.

On Active Citizenship: Discourses and Language about Youth and Migrants in Italy

Abstract The civic and political participation of young people and especially young migrants, who have limited rights of citizenship, is still a significant problem in Italy. Young people struggle to find opportunities and feel excluded from politics: the political agenda tends to see them more as a problem than as a resource. In this article, we illustrate the results of research to understand the dynamics of political and civic participation of young people and what the policy does in their favour. A content analysis of a corpus of European and Italian legislation, policy and planning documents has been undertaken. We also conducted six in-depth interviews with politicians and representatives of Italian nongovernmental organizations in order to investigate (a) policy priorities and institutional points of view, (b) consistency between these priorities and European programmes, and (c) European Union support for the policy actions and projects promoted in Italy about youth. The results showed a general difficulty for young people to ‘engage’ and be engaged in civic and political activities. There is also a gap between the political level and an effective investment which will recognize young people as a real resource.

Representation of the serial killer on the Italian Internet.

The representation of serial killers was examined from the analysis of 317 Web pages in the Italian language to study how the psychological profiles of serial killers are described on the Italian Internet. The correspondence analysis of the content of these Web pages shows that in Italy the serial killer is associated with words such as “monster” and “horror,” which suggest and imply psychological perversion and aberrant acts. These traits are peculiar for the Italian scenario.

Justice and Immigration: The Effect of Moral Exclusion

Abstract Numerous media news items suggest on a daily basis that people tend to use harsher criteria when they judge immigrants than members of their own in-group. In the present research project, we were interested in studying individual justice judgments of a violation of a law by an Italian (in-group) or an immigrant (out-group) member and the influence of moral exclusion processes on the assessment. In particular, we examined whether those people who tend to exclude out-groups from their scope of justice will give such biased judgments and will adopt double standards, while inclusive people will not. A total of 255 people evaluated the seriousness of a crime in two different law-breaking scenarios in which the offenders and the victims nationalities were systematically changed (either Italian or Romanian). Moreover, participants completed a scale measuring the moral inclusion/exclusion of other social groups. As hypothesized, participants who tended to exclude some groups from their moral community judged the Romanian more harshly than the Italian culprit. On the contrary, those people that tended to have a more inclusive moral community did not show any difference in evaluation. In conclusion, the present research highlights the importance of considering the effect of moral inclusion/ exclusion processes on the evaluation of justice events, especially in an intergroup context.

The impact of perceived effort–reward imbalance on workplace bullying: also a matter of organizational identification

Abstract Work environments characterized by inadequate work conditions have been widely recognized as being particularly prone to the occurrence and exacerbation of bullying behavior. Accordingly, this longitudinal study aimed to explore whether the impact of effort–reward imbalance (ERI) on workplace bullying was mediated by a lower perception of organizational justice, and whether the association between ERI and perceptions of justice was moderated by organizational identification. In the current study, a sample of N = 195 Spanish employees from different occupational sectors filled in an online questionnaire at two different times with a time lag of 8 months. In line with the hypothesized moderated mediation model, results showed that organizational justice mediated the impact of ERI on workplace bullying. Moreover, the effect of perceived ERI on organizational justice was stronger for employees with low organizational identification. Overall, this study can contribute to better understanding how and when ERI boosts the risk of workplace bullying. Accordingly, early intervention designed to buffer the negative effects of ERI should focus on increasing individual levels of organizational identification.

Cittadinanza attiva, partecipazione politica e identità europea. Discorsi e pratiche in italia e regno unito

Lo scopo di questo articolo e quello di analizzare le tendenze concettualizzate intorno al tema della cittadinanza in Italia e nel Regno Unito. L’intento e di mettere in luce i significati associati alla pratica di cittadinanza attiva in entrambi i paesi: nel caso italiano vengono confrontati diversi stili (top-down e bottom-up) di sviluppo della cittadinanza attiva che sono stati promossi sia a livello istituzionale sia a livello di societa civile. Nel caso britannico viene fatta invece una panoramica della riforma della cittadinanza promossa sotto i governi della Nuova Destra di Margareth Thatcher e successivamente del New Labour di Blair dopo le elezioni nel 1997. Nella seconda parte del lavoro vengono presentati i risultati emersi da una serie di interviste condotte con attivisti delle ONG, con lo scopo di fornire spunti riflessivi sui concetti di partecipazione politica e di europeizzazione.

Left–Right Orientation and Electoral Choices: Divergences in the Relationships With Authority and Out-Groups

New political parties and movements have recently grown across Europe. These parties often state their distance from the classic left–right juxtaposition, even if their voters still place themselves in the left–right continuum. The aim of the present research was to focus on the Italian political context and to analyze differences between left of center and right of center self-positioned people on attitudes concerning authority–individual and intergroup relationships. The results confirm the hypotheses. Left of center voters have lower attitudes of authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, prejudice, and ethnocentrism; they are less supportive of harsh punitive methods toward delinquents; and attach more importance to democratic values as compared with right of center voters. These differences are significant also considering voters within the same party. Although participants have declared they vote for the same party/movement, the voters who place themselves on the left of center indeed appear to have different views from those on the right of center, as concerns the relationship with authority and attitudes toward minorities.