On 5 December 2009 some 250,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Rome to protest against the politics of the then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Both men and women joined the demonstration, but they joined for different reasons. That is according to a study published today in the British Journal of Social Psychology.
This study, led by Dr Maria Paladino of the University of Trento, involved an online questionnaire which included a short video about Mr Berlusconi’s behaviour during 2009. From December 2009 to April 2010, 632 Italian people (424 women and 208 men) completed a questionnaire about their views and emotions on this issue. The study also asked about the respondent’s involvement in protests or demonstrations.
Dr Paladino explained: "We investigated the role of beliefs and group-based emotional reactions in women's and men's mobilisation against public forms of sexism.
"The findings of this study suggest that women and men engaged in this protest for different reasons. Women mobilised 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."
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