Why did Italians protest against Berlusconi's sexist behaviour? The role of sexist beliefs and emotional reactions in explaining women and men's pathways to protest

By taking advantage of the Italian protest in 2009 in reaction to the behaviour of then Prime Minister Berlusconi, in this research, we investigated the role of sexist beliefs (i.e., hostile sexism, complementary gender differentiation, protective paternalism, and heterosexual intimacy) and group‐ba...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of social psychology 2014-06, Vol.53 (2), p.201-216
Main Authors: Paladino, Maria-Paola, Zaniboni, Sara, Fasoli, Fabio, Vaes, Jeroen, Volpato, Chiara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Adult
Anger
Behavior. Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Culture
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Female
Females
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Italy
Male
Males
Men - psychology
Mobilization
Motivation
Paternalism
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sex Characteristics
Sexism
Sexism - psychology
Social psychology
Women - psychology
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Summary:By taking advantage of the Italian protest in 2009 in reaction to the behaviour of then Prime Minister Berlusconi, in this research, we investigated the role of sexist beliefs (i.e., hostile sexism, complementary gender differentiation, protective paternalism, and heterosexual intimacy) and group‐based emotional reactions (i.e., anger, humiliation, and sadness) to women's and men's action mobilization against public forms of sexism. The findings of this study suggest that women and men engaged in this protest for different reasons. Women mobilized to express their anger at Berlusconi's sexist behaviour, an emotion related to the condemnation of hostile sexist views and benevolent sexist beliefs about heterosexual intimacy. In contrast, the strength of men's participation in the protest was affected by humiliation, an emotion related to the condemnation of hostile sexist beliefs and support for complementary gender differentiation. This emotional path suggests that men likely protested to restore their reputations. These findings underline the role of sexist beliefs and group‐based emotions in transforming the condemnation of a sexist event into action mobilization against sexism for both women and men.
ISSN:0144-6665
2044-8309
DOI:10.1111/bjso.12023