Roberta Rosa Valtorta
Biographic Data
| ID | 4264541 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Roberta Rosa Valtorta |
| GIVEN NAMES | Roberta Rosa |
| FAMILY NAME | Valtorta |
| SIGNATURE | VALTORTA R R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Milano-Bicocca |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0565-5463 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Metaphors matter
Biologization – a form of dehumanization in which others are considered as disease carriers rather than humans – is common in the political debate; however, its effects have been understudied. To fill this gap, we conducted three pre-registered experimental studies in which biological language was manipulated through vignettes. We found that using disease metaphors (vs. negative but non-dehumanizing language) to describe others increased biologiz…
More inequality, more violence acceptance? Investigating the link between economic inequality and tolerance of gender‐based violence
Beyond its well‐documented health‐related effects, economic inequality has significant sociopsychological consequences. This research examines how perceived economic inequality is associated with tolerance of gender‐based violence through status anxiety and sexualization processes. Across three studies involving Italian heterosexual women, results showed that higher levels of perceived economic inequality, combined with a low socioeconomic status…
Covid-19 restrictions and sense of humanness
The present study analyses the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on self-perception of humanness through the increased sense of threat to fundamental human needs. Furthermore, in an explorative way, we analysed the possible impact of this pattern on the identification with all humanity, in terms of bond with humanity and concern for all humanity. Through a preregistered experimental study ( N = 278), we showed that participants who were asked to r…
National Identity and Economic Inequality
This research examined the association of national identity with system justification and collective action against economic inequality specifically relating to socioeconomic status (Study 1), ethnicity (Study 2) and gender (Study 3) among both disadvantaged and advantaged groups. Additionally, in Study 3, we investigated the competing predictive role of national narcissism. Across all studies ( N = 3387) and regardless of group membership, we co…
Agency Attribution and Biological Dehumanisation
Dehumanisation is the perception of someone less than human. Several studies have used innovative approaches to investigate the subtle ways in which humanity can be denied. While most of these models clearly distinguish humans from animals and robots, none adequately capture the huge range of dehumanisation that exists in metaphorical thought, such as disease‐related metaphors (i.e., biologisation). Building on existing theoretical frameworks con…
On the indirect link between virus anthropomorphism and health behavior
Experts and laypeople often describe pathogens and diseases by attributing to these nonhuman entities human-related qualities, mind states, intentions, and emotions (i.e., anthropomorphism). By taking advantage of the last pandemic, the present research was intended to investigate the implications of thinking about a virus in human-like terms for individuals' health-related behaviors. A severity pathway hypothesis (i.e., virus anthropomorphism is…
Inequality perception and preferences globally and locally - correlational evidence from a large-scale cross-country survey
Using a large, representative survey involving 31 countries, we establish stylized facts about the attitudes toward cross-country economic inequality and their correlates. This question has been surprisingly understudied for a topic so important to our globalized $$21^{st}$$ 21 st century. We present a simple and intuitive theoretical framework for thinking about cross-country inequalities. Then, we show that people’s perceived and desired levels…
The impacts of Covid-19 on the relationship between perceived economic inequality and political action among socioeconomic classes
Economic inequality qualifies as a structural characteristic leading to political action, albeit this relationship manifests differently across socioeconomic classes. COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing economic inequalities in ways that increased social tensions and political unrest around the world. This research investigates the effect of COVID-19 personal impacts on the relationship between perceived economic inequality and individuals' …
Gender Stereotypes and Sexualization in Italian Children’s Television Advertisements
The objective of the present study was to examine gender stereotypes and sexualization in Italian television advertisements aimed at children. For this purpose, content analysis method was used to analyze 185 commercials broadcast from 6 pm to 8:30 pm over the three Italian television channels dedicated to children which attract the largest audience share. In order to allow comparison with previous research on gender stereotyping, two raters code…
Investigating the link between biological dehumanization and indirect aggression
The present research aims at expanding the literature on biologization (i.e., a form of dehumanization in which others are perceived as contagious entities) by providing the first empirical evidence of the link between this sociopsychological process and indirect aggression (i.e., behaviours intended to harm someone in a roundabout manner, such as excluding them from a group or society). We first identified the most dehumanized social groups in I…
A Twofold Subjective Measure of Income Inequality
Social scientists have been aiming to calculate a 'subjective income Gini coefficient'of survey respondents that would describe their beliefs about income inequality in their country. Niehues (Subjective perceptions of inequality and redistributive preferences: an international comparison, Cologne Institute for Economic Research, IWTRENDS Discussion Paper, 2014) derives this estimate from respondents' beliefs about the relative sizes of different…
Burnout and workplace dehumanization at the supermarket
This study explores the psychological effects of the COVID-19 emergency on workers employed in the supermarket sector by analysing their levels of burnout and the relationship between the burnout syndrome and employees' workplace experiences. A sample of 422 Italian workers answered a survey addressing the burnout dimensions (i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, and professional inefficacy) along with perceived organizational factors and dehumanizing repr…
Photography and Landscape in Italy in the 1980s
In the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s many Italian photographers worked so intensely on the transformation of contemporary landscape, often participating in group projects and in public commissioned projects. The phenomenon was so large and important that we can talk about an “Italian landscape photography school”, although these photographers were different from one another. They were looking for a different idea of landscape, far from the…
Paolo Monti
The complex figure of Paolo Monti occupies a central and detennining position within the developments of Italian photography of this century. He was an artist, a university teacher of photography, an esteemed professional and an intellectual rigorously committed to elevating the cultural status of Italian photography. His notable modernity also lay in his ability to free photography from the limitations of amateur use during the Italian postwar p…
Burnout and workplace dehumanization at the supermarket
This study explores the psychological effects of the COVID-19 emergency on workers employed in the supermarket sector by analysing their levels of burnout and the relationship between the burnout syndrome and employees' workplace experiences. A sample of 422 Italian workers answered a survey addressing the burnout dimensions (i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, and professional inefficacy) along with perceived organizational factors and dehumanizing repr…
National Identity and Economic Inequality
This research examined the association of national identity with system justification and collective action against economic inequality specifically relating to socioeconomic status (Study 1), ethnicity (Study 2) and gender (Study 3) among both disadvantaged and advantaged groups. Additionally, in Study 3, we investigated the competing predictive role of national narcissism. Across all studies ( N = 3387) and regardless of group membership, we co…
The impacts of Covid-19 on the relationship between perceived economic inequality and political action among socioeconomic classes
Economic inequality qualifies as a structural characteristic leading to political action, albeit this relationship manifests differently across socioeconomic classes. COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing economic inequalities in ways that increased social tensions and political unrest around the world. This research investigates the effect of COVID-19 personal impacts on the relationship between perceived economic inequality and individuals' …
Gender Stereotypes and Sexualization in Italian Children’s Television Advertisements
The objective of the present study was to examine gender stereotypes and sexualization in Italian television advertisements aimed at children. For this purpose, content analysis method was used to analyze 185 commercials broadcast from 6 pm to 8:30 pm over the three Italian television channels dedicated to children which attract the largest audience share. In order to allow comparison with previous research on gender stereotyping, two raters code…
A Twofold Subjective Measure of Income Inequality
Social scientists have been aiming to calculate a 'subjective income Gini coefficient'of survey respondents that would describe their beliefs about income inequality in their country. Niehues (Subjective perceptions of inequality and redistributive preferences: an international comparison, Cologne Institute for Economic Research, IWTRENDS Discussion Paper, 2014) derives this estimate from respondents' beliefs about the relative sizes of different…
Paolo Monti
The complex figure of Paolo Monti occupies a central and detennining position within the developments of Italian photography of this century. He was an artist, a university teacher of photography, an esteemed professional and an intellectual rigorously committed to elevating the cultural status of Italian photography. His notable modernity also lay in his ability to free photography from the limitations of amateur use during the Italian postwar p…
Photography and Landscape in Italy in the 1980s
In the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s many Italian photographers worked so intensely on the transformation of contemporary landscape, often participating in group projects and in public commissioned projects. The phenomenon was so large and important that we can talk about an “Italian landscape photography school”, although these photographers were different from one another. They were looking for a different idea of landscape, far from the…
Burnout and workplace dehumanization at the supermarket
This study explores the psychological effects of the COVID-19 emergency on workers employed in the supermarket sector by analysing their levels of burnout and the relationship between the burnout syndrome and employees' workplace experiences. A sample of 422 Italian workers answered a survey addressing the burnout dimensions (i.e., exhaustion, cynicism, and professional inefficacy) along with perceived organizational factors and dehumanizing repr…
The impacts of Covid-19 on the relationship between perceived economic inequality and political action among socioeconomic classes
Economic inequality qualifies as a structural characteristic leading to political action, albeit this relationship manifests differently across socioeconomic classes. COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing economic inequalities in ways that increased social tensions and political unrest around the world. This research investigates the effect of COVID-19 personal impacts on the relationship between perceived economic inequality and individuals' …
Gender Stereotypes and Sexualization in Italian Children’s Television Advertisements
The objective of the present study was to examine gender stereotypes and sexualization in Italian television advertisements aimed at children. For this purpose, content analysis method was used to analyze 185 commercials broadcast from 6 pm to 8:30 pm over the three Italian television channels dedicated to children which attract the largest audience share. In order to allow comparison with previous research on gender stereotyping, two raters code…
Investigating the link between biological dehumanization and indirect aggression
The present research aims at expanding the literature on biologization (i.e., a form of dehumanization in which others are perceived as contagious entities) by providing the first empirical evidence of the link between this sociopsychological process and indirect aggression (i.e., behaviours intended to harm someone in a roundabout manner, such as excluding them from a group or society). We first identified the most dehumanized social groups in I…
A Twofold Subjective Measure of Income Inequality
Social scientists have been aiming to calculate a 'subjective income Gini coefficient'of survey respondents that would describe their beliefs about income inequality in their country. Niehues (Subjective perceptions of inequality and redistributive preferences: an international comparison, Cologne Institute for Economic Research, IWTRENDS Discussion Paper, 2014) derives this estimate from respondents' beliefs about the relative sizes of different…
On the indirect link between virus anthropomorphism and health behavior
Experts and laypeople often describe pathogens and diseases by attributing to these nonhuman entities human-related qualities, mind states, intentions, and emotions (i.e., anthropomorphism). By taking advantage of the last pandemic, the present research was intended to investigate the implications of thinking about a virus in human-like terms for individuals' health-related behaviors. A severity pathway hypothesis (i.e., virus anthropomorphism is…
Inequality perception and preferences globally and locally - correlational evidence from a large-scale cross-country survey
Using a large, representative survey involving 31 countries, we establish stylized facts about the attitudes toward cross-country economic inequality and their correlates. This question has been surprisingly understudied for a topic so important to our globalized $$21^{st}$$ 21 st century. We present a simple and intuitive theoretical framework for thinking about cross-country inequalities. Then, we show that people’s perceived and desired levels…
Covid-19 restrictions and sense of humanness
The present study analyses the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on self-perception of humanness through the increased sense of threat to fundamental human needs. Furthermore, in an explorative way, we analysed the possible impact of this pattern on the identification with all humanity, in terms of bond with humanity and concern for all humanity. Through a preregistered experimental study ( N = 278), we showed that participants who were asked to r…
National Identity and Economic Inequality
This research examined the association of national identity with system justification and collective action against economic inequality specifically relating to socioeconomic status (Study 1), ethnicity (Study 2) and gender (Study 3) among both disadvantaged and advantaged groups. Additionally, in Study 3, we investigated the competing predictive role of national narcissism. Across all studies ( N = 3387) and regardless of group membership, we co…
Agency Attribution and Biological Dehumanisation
Dehumanisation is the perception of someone less than human. Several studies have used innovative approaches to investigate the subtle ways in which humanity can be denied. While most of these models clearly distinguish humans from animals and robots, none adequately capture the huge range of dehumanisation that exists in metaphorical thought, such as disease‐related metaphors (i.e., biologisation). Building on existing theoretical frameworks con…
Metaphors matter
Biologization – a form of dehumanization in which others are considered as disease carriers rather than humans – is common in the political debate; however, its effects have been understudied. To fill this gap, we conducted three pre-registered experimental studies in which biological language was manipulated through vignettes. We found that using disease metaphors (vs. negative but non-dehumanizing language) to describe others increased biologiz…
More inequality, more violence acceptance? Investigating the link between economic inequality and tolerance of gender‐based violence
Beyond its well‐documented health‐related effects, economic inequality has significant sociopsychological consequences. This research examines how perceived economic inequality is associated with tolerance of gender‐based violence through status anxiety and sexualization processes. Across three studies involving Italian heterosexual women, results showed that higher levels of perceived economic inequality, combined with a low socioeconomic status…
Psychology (8 works) · Social Psychology (8 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Inequality (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (5 works) · Dehumanization (4 works) · Demographic economics (4 works) · Economics (4 works)