Mafia wears out women in power: Evidence from italian municipalities

Abstract

We test a neglected implication of women's higher risk aversion: i.e., organized crime infiltration, increasing the perceived risk of entering politics, can prove more effective in discouraging highly qualified women to run for election compared to men. We constructed a data set based on yearly observations of 1,608 Italian municipalities in the 1985-2016 period. Exploiting the exogenous shock of municipal government dissolution for mafia infiltration, we robustly identify a stronger negative effect of organized crime activity on female politicians than on male.

Unveiling the influence of the Italian mafia as a Dark Triad threat on individuals’ affective states and the power of defense mechanisms

“…In conclusion, the Italian mafia as a DT threat and their effect on the Italian population cannot be denied: Not only our results but also the first field studies on the Italian mafia (e.g. 8 , 9 ) highlight the feelings of anxious inhibition and fear triggered by the Italian mafia. However, our results depict the importance of writing about possible defense mechanisms to reduce these threat-related affective states.…”

“…The Italian mafia is known for its ruthless and reckless behavior, for which they are frightened by the Italian population 8 , 9 . However, research on how the population deals with the threat of the mafia is rare.…”

“… 74 ). For instance, a recent study by Baraldi et al 8 showed the associations between the mafia’s organized crime infiltration and women’s reduced participation in politics due to feelings of fear. A third limitation concerns our mixed-method analyses with our defense strategies; future research could focus on replicating our findings by measuring possible defense mechanisms quantitatively to better conclude the relationship of these defense mechanisms to the affective states.…”

“…While these four organizations differ in terms of their history, symbolism, rituals, criminal interests, organizational structure, and modus operandi 6 , 7 , they show similarities in their ongoing violent strive for power 3 , 5 for which they are frightened by the Italian population (e.g. 8 , 9 ). However, research on the Italian mafia as a threat and how the population deals with the threat of the mafia to reduce their negative affective states is rare has not been researched.…”