There is an area of the brain can stop the sexist beliefs in men. If this is inhibited people male, although young and with a highly educated, give way to the stereotype that the successful combination of power-what is by men. The study, published in the journal Neuroimage , which deals with brain research and brain imaging was conducted at the University of Milano-Bicocca, by Zaira Cattaneo, researcher at the Department of Psychology, by Costanza Papagno, Professor of Psychology and Psychobiology Physiological, Giulia Mattavelli, a PhD student at the same Department and Elisa Platania, a new graduate in psychology from the University Bicocca.
The researchers used a test that measures the people's implicit beliefs on gender (Gender Implicit Association Test, Iact) and are administered through the computer to 62 students of the Faculty of Psychology (31 men and 31 women). During the test appeared at the center of the monitor a person's name that the participants had to classify as male or female using a left or right.Subsequently, participants were classified - using the same keyboard response - a few words as related to a notion of "force" or "weakness." When asked to use the same response key to categorize "feminine" and "strength" of male participants have committed more errors than when the same key was used to classify the "feminine" and "weak" (and vice versa for male names).
Bicocca University scientists have discovered that - in the men participating - there is a strong tendency to link the men to concepts related to force, such as power, authority, success, prestige, and to associate with notions of female " weakness ", such as weakness, indecision, passivity, submissiveness. The girls who participated in the experiment did not show, however, no association between gender and concepts of strength and weakness.
The researchers then studied the neural basis of stereotypical beliefs found in male participants using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that allows you to selectively interfere with the activity of a certain brain area and then to study the role in a particular cognitive process. It was discovered that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex play a key role in the control of stereotypes: in fact, when these areas were temporarily inhibited by the stimulation, male participants were associated with an even sharper words related to the strength male gender, and words related to the weakness of the female sex. In practice, the men, although not in a conscious way, combining the positive elements, such as the success and prestige, primarily male and scope only by the growth of the prefrontal cortex, these impulses are slowed and did not result in discriminatory episodes.
Prefrontal areas are the last to mature in the brain and play high-level cognitive functions such as reasoning, planning, inhibition of inappropriate responses, decision-making. The results showed that the control of the stereotypes - those related to gender (as well as race and ethnicity, for example) - can be modulated by interfering with the activity of the prefrontal lobes. I understand and control processes mediated by the prefrontal cortex are highly influenced by education and by the environment: Although gender-stereotypical beliefs are still deeply rooted in our culture, the prefrontal cortex can be "trained" to control negative associations acquired implicitly. It is therefore essential to invest in education the control exerted by the prefrontal cortex acting on stereotypical beliefs as possible.
The researchers used a test that measures the people's implicit beliefs on gender (Gender Implicit Association Test, Iact) and are administered through the computer to 62 students of the Faculty of Psychology (31 men and 31 women). During the test appeared at the center of the monitor a person's name that the participants had to classify as male or female using a left or right.Subsequently, participants were classified - using the same keyboard response - a few words as related to a notion of "force" or "weakness." When asked to use the same response key to categorize "feminine" and "strength" of male participants have committed more errors than when the same key was used to classify the "feminine" and "weak" (and vice versa for male names).
Bicocca University scientists have discovered that - in the men participating - there is a strong tendency to link the men to concepts related to force, such as power, authority, success, prestige, and to associate with notions of female " weakness ", such as weakness, indecision, passivity, submissiveness. The girls who participated in the experiment did not show, however, no association between gender and concepts of strength and weakness.
The researchers then studied the neural basis of stereotypical beliefs found in male participants using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that allows you to selectively interfere with the activity of a certain brain area and then to study the role in a particular cognitive process. It was discovered that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex play a key role in the control of stereotypes: in fact, when these areas were temporarily inhibited by the stimulation, male participants were associated with an even sharper words related to the strength male gender, and words related to the weakness of the female sex. In practice, the men, although not in a conscious way, combining the positive elements, such as the success and prestige, primarily male and scope only by the growth of the prefrontal cortex, these impulses are slowed and did not result in discriminatory episodes.
Prefrontal areas are the last to mature in the brain and play high-level cognitive functions such as reasoning, planning, inhibition of inappropriate responses, decision-making. The results showed that the control of the stereotypes - those related to gender (as well as race and ethnicity, for example) - can be modulated by interfering with the activity of the prefrontal lobes. I understand and control processes mediated by the prefrontal cortex are highly influenced by education and by the environment: Although gender-stereotypical beliefs are still deeply rooted in our culture, the prefrontal cortex can be "trained" to control negative associations acquired implicitly. It is therefore essential to invest in education the control exerted by the prefrontal cortex acting on stereotypical beliefs as possible.
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