par Melotte, Patricia ;Licata, Laurent
Référence EASP General Meeting (Juillet 2017: Granada (Spain))
Publication Non publié, 2017-07-02
Poster de conférence
Résumé : Sexist remarks are frequent. Deciding how to respond to them is part of most women’s daily life (Swim, Cohen & Hyers, 1998). Even though confrontation could reduce sexism (Mallett & Wagner, 2011), women rarely confront the author (Swim & Hyers, 1999). Previous studies about confrontation to sexism have either focused on motivational (cost / benefit ratio), or on emotional antecedents of confrontation. The present study combined these two factors. We hypothesized that experiencing anger and focusing more on the benefits of confrontation than on its costs would facilitate confrontation. Female participants (N = 53) interacted with a male confederate who expressed three sexist remarks related to traditional gender roles. The interactions were videotaped, then analysed through the FaceReader software, which provided real time measures of facial expression of basic emotions. A post-interaction questionnaire measured evaluations of the costs and benefits of confronting the sexist remarks, and self-reported emotions. Results show that only 6% of women confronted all sexist remarks, whereas 43% did not confront any of them. Analysis of emotional reaction profiles over time showed that only anger was linked to confrontation: participants who confronted sexism facially expressed more anger. However, there was no impact of self-reported emotions on the reaction. Confrontation was linked to the benefits associated with confrontation, but it was not hindered by the social costs associated with participants’ self-image. Implications for social initiatives to empower women in sexist situations will be discussed.