P053 - Investigating Gender-Based Discrimination: Unveiling the Underlying Mechanisms

• In Event: Poster Session & Ice Cream Social

Abstract

According to Feminist theories that have addressed GBV (Gender Based Violence), social changes related to globalization intersect with the etiologies of Violence Against Women (VAW); the causes of VAW no longer stop at national borders. VAW is a major public health problem worldwide: World Health Organization data report that approximately one in three women worldwide has been a victim of violence. For more than 15 years, the integrated social-ecological theory has evolved as a theoretical model for exploring the factors associated with VAW. The present research will investigate the relationship between basic cognitive functions (decision-making and emotion regulation), Need for Cognitive Closure, sexist beliefs, and acceptance of gender stereotypes by considering the “Culture in Mind” theoretical framework, concerning adherence to and perpetuation of Gender-Based Discrimination (GBD) through its implicit stereotypical manifestations. The research project will be structured around three overarching objectives: 1) explore adherence to gender stereotypes in the reference sample; 2) identify the relationship between cognitive variables that lead to stereotypical thinking to understand which relationships are the strongest; 3) investigate which models explain the relationships between cognitive variables and stereotypical thinking. Although the patterns of GBV differ across cultures, the fact that it is a worldwide phenomenon leads to the hypothesis that there are factors that outweigh the cultural aspects that allow discriminatory stereotypes to persist. Therefore, the project aims to integrate the factors that most seem to be related to adherence to gender stereotypes into a single theoretical and innovative model.

Author

• Giulia Lausi, Faculty of Law, Vilnius University