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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Reducing State Anxiety Using Working Memory Maintenance
Published on: July 19, 2017
System justification moderates the relation between hostile (but not benevolent) sexism in the workplace and state
Maria Giuseppina Pacilli1, Federica Spaccatini1, Ilaria Giovannelli1
1a Department of Political Science , Universita degli Studi di Perugia , Perugia , Italy.
Abstract:
In an experimental vignette study performed with 92 Portuguese women, we analyzed the relations between exposure to hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS) in a workplace context, system justification (SJ), and anxiety, measured after participants were exposed to an HS, a BS, or a neutral communication about the context of the industry they would have worked in, if selected. The results indicated that both HS and BS fostered participants' anxiety, and that SJ moderated the relation between HS and anxiety. Anxiety was highest among participants low in SJ. Main contributions of the study, limitations, and possible future research directions are discussed.
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