Autori: Pierro, Antonio, Albarello, Flavia, Kana Kenfack, Corine Stella
Titolo: Positive contact and attitudes toward women as managers: The moderating role of implicit person theory (or mindset) about the malleability of human attributes
Periodico: Psicologia sociale
Anno: 2026 - Fascicolo: 1 - Pagina iniziale: 123 - Pagina finale: 143

Over the past decades, research has emphasized the «glass ceiling» that limits women’s access to leadership roles and makes them the target of biased attitudes. This barrier persists because women continue to face challenges in breaking free from traditional gender-role stereotypes in the workplace. This study (N=252), conducted in Italy using a cross-sectional approach, explored two key factors that might be associated with negative attitudes toward women managers: positive contact with women in leadership/managerial positions (i.e., counterstereotypic contact) and Implicit Person Theories (IPT) or mindsets, which reflect individuals’ beliefs system about the malleability of individual’s attributes. As expected, our findings showed that the positive quality of contact was associated with less negative attitudes towards women managers, and that participants with high IPT benefited the most from positive contact. In addition, IPT moderated the relationship between positive contact and negative attitudes towards women leaders: When individuals held an entity IPT (believing an attribute is a fixed, non-malleable trait, i.e., fixed mindset), positive contact was associated with a reduction in negative attitudes toward women leaders. This study highlights the power of positive contact in shifting rigid, stereotyped mindsets and, consequently, reducing prejudice towards women in leadership/ managerial roles.




SICI: 1827-2517(2026)1<123:PCAATW>2.0.ZU;2-5
Testo completo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/download/article/10.1482/119975
Testo completo alternativo: https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.1482/119975

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