Stefano Ciaffoni

In recent years, Western societies have seen unprecedented attention to gender inequality and its repercussions for women and society as a whole. Amid this societal change, this research aims to study whether and how perceiving gender inequalities relates to women university students’ investment in study and professional aspirations. Since inequalities between women and men unfold along different domains, we considered four dimensions of inequalities: workplace inequalities, domestic unbalance, sexual harassment, and gendered social expectations. Furthermore, we examined whether achievement-related contingencies of self-worth mediated the relationship between perceiving inequalities and students’ career aspirations. Study 1, conducted in Italy (N = 418), showed that perceiving gender inequalities had both direct and indirect positive associations with women’s career aspirations. Study 2, conducted in Spain (N = 401), extended these findings by additionally considering women students’ self-reported academic effort. The key results, which align with expectations based on relative deprivation theory, suggest that perceiving systematic disadvantages for women motivates women students to invest more in their academic and professional pursuits, and this might represent an act of social change. Remarkably, domains often perceived as unrelated to the workplace, such as domestic imbalance, significantly influenced professional aspirations, emphasizing the pervasive influence of gender inequalities across multiple life contexts.

Gender inequalities are pervasive across various life domains, yet research has often overlooked how people perceive that women are treated differently than men. To fill this gap, we developed and validated the 16-item multidimensional Social Treatment and Experiences of Women (STEW) scale across different samples of women and different cultural contexts, namely Italy and the UK N = 1,195). Using exploratory (Study 1, N = 703) and confirmatory (Study 2, N = 550; Study 3a, N = 132; Study 4, N = 201; Study 5, N = 233) factor analysis, we identified four dimensions: workplace inequalities, domestic imbalance, harassment towards women, and social expectations. Studies 3a and 3b (N = 96) demonstrated convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of the STEW, linking the STEW’s subscales to group-based emotions, reported experiences of sexism, attitudes towards affirmative action, and attitudes towards women’s sexual freedom. Replicating the factor structure in the UK, Study 4 found the STEW explained unique variance in group-based emotions and intergroup attitudes beyond personal experiences of sexism. Last, Study 5 showed that the STEW explains unique variance in collective action intentions and feminist identification beyond people’s attitudes towards gender equality. Highlighting the importance of conceiving gender inequalities as a multifaceted issue, the STEW provides a robust tool for assessing perceptions of differential treatment of women across domains and can inform more comprehensive interventions promoting gender equality.

Sexual minority (SM) men are more likely than heterosexual men to experience body dissatisfaction due to prevailing body ideals (e.g. lean and muscular) within the SM community. Negative body image can have harmful effects on well-being, and, by extension, sexual well-being. The current study aimed to investigate whether SM men's minority identification and LGBTQ+ community connectedness moderates the relationship between drives for muscularity and sexual anxiety. To address this aim, 298 Australian-residing SM men completed an online survey that examined drive for muscularity, sexual anxiety, and connectedness or identification with the LGBTQ+ and SM-specific communities. As hypothesized, the results showed a positive relationship between drive for muscularity and sexual anxiety. Additionally, LGBTQ+ community connectedness, but importantly not SM identification, was found to moderate this relationship, showing a positive association only when connection was at low or average levels. These results highlight the beneficial effects that LGBTQ+ community connection can have for SM men, such as protecting them against the harmful impacts of poor body image on sexual well-being. These results also provide preliminary insights into the need to expand the understandings of bodily diversity, and diversity of sexual well-being experiences, among SM men less connected to the broader LGBTQ+ community.

Despite significant strides in reducing gender disparities over the past decades, women still face disparities in several domains. While extensive research has explored the various consequences of gender inequalities for women, this study (N = 493 participants) delves into a less-explored dimension, investigating whether and how perceiving gender inequalities is associated with attitudes toward minorities. Drawing on relative deprivation theory and intra-minority solidarity research, we examined the relationship between women's perceptions of gender inequalities—spanning workplace inequality, domestic inequality, sexual harassment, and social expectations—and attitudes toward gays and lesbians, transgender women, and immigrants. We also explored whether indignation, arising from recognizing unjust circumstances, mediated these relationships, and the moderating role of perceived friends' support for gender equality. The results of the path analyses unveiled a nuanced relationship. While women who were more aware of gender inequalities exhibited more positive attitudes toward gays and lesbians and transgender women, no such relationship was observed regarding immigrants. Indignation and perceived friends' support for gender equality were key factors in fostering positive intergroup attitudes. Regarding their moderating role, perceived social norms only influenced the relationship between indignation and attitudes toward gays and lesbians. These findings shed light on the intricate interplay between gender inequalities and minority group attitudes. Recognizing the multifaceted nature of gender inequality and its emotional impact can catalyze promoting coalitional attitudes and collective action among disadvantaged groups. The study also underscores the potential of close groups' norms in promoting positive intergroup attitudes, warranting further exploration.

Campaigns supporting victims of gender harassment and abuse, such as #MeToo, have made and still make significant contributions to achieving the fifth UN Sustainable Development Goal aimed at eliminating “all forms of violence against all women”. In two correlational studies, we examined possible antecedents of people’s willingness to participate in the #MeToo campaign by focusing on the role of ambivalent beliefs toward women and men and the perceived effects of the movement. Men (Study 1) and women (Study 2) were asked to answer questions concerning hostile and benevolent beliefs about women and men, respectively, their perception of the beneficial and detrimental effects of #MeToo, and their intentions to participate in the campaign. Study 1 showed that men’s hostile sexism toward women was associated with fewer intentions to actively support the #MeToo campaign and that the reduced beliefs that the movement had beneficial effects mediated this relation. Study 2 revealed that women’s stronger benevolent beliefs about men were associated with decreased perception that the #MeToo campaign had a beneficial impact. In turn, such a perception was related to lower intentions to participate in supporting the campaign. Moreover, women’s hostility toward men explained the intention to join the #MeToo movement through the mediation of the perception that the campaign was beneficial. The findings suggest that to foster participation in a feminist movement that promotes women’s rights, it is necessary to eradicate traditional gender roles and the related ideologies that legitimate men’s dominant position in society.

The purpose of our study was to evaluate what kind of relationships exist between HLA antigens and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), in 20 families and in 40 single patients coming from and living in North Eastern Italy. The subjects studied show a strong association with HLA-DR3 and/or -DR4; at least one of these antigens is present in 88% of the diabetic subjects; this confirms that these antigens play a role in the pathogenesis of IDDM. We also noticed a negative association between IDDM and DR5 rather than DR2 and DR7. This result supports the hypothesis of a specific protective effect of DR5, at least as regards the population studied. Possibly, the gene(s) hypothetically involved in the protection against IDDM is (are) in linkage disequilibrium with DR2 and/or DR7 in some Caucasian populations and with DR5 in others. Another important result is the frequent HLA identity (75% of cases) among diabetic siblings of the same families. This result indicates that HLA identity is the main condition respondible for the susceptibility to the disease in the healthy siblings with HLA antigens identical to the diabetic siblings.