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National
Research
Council

Institute for Research
on Population
and Social Policies

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National
Research
Council

Institute for Research
on Population
and Social Policies

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Gender stereotypes are increasing among adolescents

Press release from the National Research Council on the preliminary results of the MiB project (Intergenerational Changes and Wellbeing), prepared by the CNR-IRPPS group Social Change, Evaluation and Methods (MUSA):

In recent years, several studies by the CNR-IRPPS MUSA research group have highlighted not only the persistence but also the growth of gender stereotypes among young people. The first results of the MiB project, conducted on more than 3,000 fourteen-year-olds in Rome, show that in 2025, 62.3% of participants display medium-to-high adherence to these preconceptions—a phenomenon that also affects girls.

Among adolescents, adherence to gender stereotypes remains high, and it also shapes girls’ attitudes. This is confirmed once again by the latest survey by the Social Change, Evaluation and Methods (MUSA) research group at the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies of the National Research Council (CNR-IRPPS), on a sample of more than 3,000 students from 25 upper secondary schools in Rome. The study, launched in 2024 and running until 2029, includes face-to-face interviews with adolescents to investigate and explore endemic and emerging social issues, including the presence and effects of gender stereotyping—a true social “virus” which, fed by unresolved educational norms, is responsible for discrimination, educational and occupational segregation, and often even extreme violence.

“The research findings—since this is a longitudinal study—currently concern only fourteen-year-olds (3,068), and show that in 2025, 62.3% of respondents have a medium-to-high adherence to gender stereotypes,” explains Antonio Tintori of CNR-IRPPS, head of the MUSA research group. “The problem affects boys more, but girls are by no means exempt. Among boys, however, the medium-to-high level of gender stereotyping is actually double that of their female peers (79.0% versus 40.2%).”

The data highlight a still widespread belief in gender roles that place men in top positions—those involving leadership, power and control; this conditioning, meanwhile, still confines women to the domestic sphere, meaning they are expected to shoulder caregiving and family assistance responsibilities.

“Moreover, comparing these data with those from the latest national CNR survey on the state of adolescence, carried out by the same research group in 2022, reveals another alarming fact: these stereotypes are more widespread today than in the past, when, at national level and for the same age group, medium-to-high adherence to this social conditioning was 37.9% (20.8% girls; 49.2% boys),” Tintori continues.

In order to investigate these social influences in greater depth, adherence to the idea of specific gender roles was also measured, which is a direct consequence of the internalization of the stereotypes of the same name. In this case, the research technique involved providing adolescents with a list of roles and actions and asking them to indicate who was best suited to perform them: men, women, or whether gender was irrelevant. A medium-high adherence to male gender roles, which attribute certain skills or activities to men, such as being in charge at work, being president, being a police officer, driving, competing in sports, earning a lot of money, and being a scientist, is found in 47.9% of 14-year-olds in Rome, and is significantly more prevalent among male respondents (67.1% of males and 23.4% of females). On the other hand, 33.3% of adolescents have a medium-high adherence to female gender roles, as reflected in activities such as cooking, caring for children, cleaning, shopping, and teaching, with a significant prevalence still among males (43.0% males and 20.6% females). Even in the case of gender role analysis, a comparison with 14-year-olds in the national survey on the state of adolescence reveals a decidedly worrying trend, as medium-high adherence to male gender roles has increased by 10.8% and that to female gender roles by 9%.

The latest data confirm that these stereotypes are more widespread in technical institutes (75.1% compared to 66.1% in vocational schools and 51.4% in high schools), among students with a migrant background (70.8% compared to 61.0% of those with Italian citizenship) and among those with a low cultural status in the family (71.1% compared to 52.5% of those with a high cultural status),” adds the researcher. “These trends, which have been progressively worsening over the last few years, indicate the need for urgent, targeted, and structural interventions, delivered by specialized personnel, aimed at pupils starting from primary school and focused on the exercise of critical thinking, emotionality, affectivity, and the development of relational skills,” concludes Tintori. In this regard. The MUSA research group has prepared the ‘Guide to Deconstructing Gender Stereotypes: Recognizing Them to Break Them Down’, which is a streamlined and practical tool aimed not only at the younger generation but also at teachers and parents.

For information:
Antonio Tintori
CNR – Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies
antonio.tintori@cnr.it

Press Office:
Sandra Fiore
CNR – Press Unit
sandra.fiore@cnr.it

Head of Press Office Unit:
Emanuele Guerrini
emanuele.guerrini@cnr.it
ufficiostampa@cnr.it
06 4993 3383

See also:

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A ‘Guide’ to Recognizing and ‘Dismantling’ Gender Stereotypes

The press release from the National Research Council for the publication of the Guide “Gender Stereotypes. Recognizing Them to Dismantle Them” edited by the CNR-IRPPS group Social Change, Evaluation and Methods (MUSA):

Over half of primary school children are convinced that in life men and women have distinct social roles: the former of power and command, the latter of care and nurturing (medium-high adherence to the stereotyped male role, 58.6%; female, 52.9%). Among Italian adolescents, and therefore with increasing age and exposure to extrafamilial secondary socialization environments, the sexist ideas instilled by gender stereotypes only weaken, particularly among girls (medium-high adherence to the stereotyped male role, 28.3%; female, 30.8%). These are the data collected by the Social Change, Evaluation and Methods (MUSA) group of the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies of the National Research Council (CNR-IRPPS), which has produced a Guide: ‘Gender Stereotypes’ to teach young people, parents and teachers how to deconstruct them.

Simple questions, such as: ‘What is a stereotype?’ ‘What are gender roles?’, ‘How do we assume them?’, ‘What do they feed on?’, ‘What are the effects?’, ‘When should they be dismantled?’, are met with brief and clear answers, developed by experts.

The Guide, explains Antonio Tintori, CNR-IRPPS researcher and coordinator of the MUSA team, was created to meet the requests received from numerous schools of all levels throughout Italy: to have an additional tool to raise awareness and educate new generations in overcoming stereotypes that, even in subtle ways, can influence the life choices of children and adolescents.

“Very many Italian adolescents explicitly approve of violence and discrimination: 2 out of 10 openly declare themselves homophobic and 1 out of 10 are racist and sexist,” explains Antonio Tintori. “Moreover, about 3 out of 10 are unable to recognize acts such as insults, coercion, and threats as violent, just as they fail to recognize a gender stereotype, which is the primary form of social conditioning that we ‘contract’ in the very first years of life, predominantly within the family. This is, in fact, the primary site of reproduction of social inequalities, although adults are usually not even aware that they are the first agents of transmission of this extremely powerful social conditioning, which is at the origin of the many asymmetries between men and women in the private, family, work, and economic spheres, as well as a cause of violence.”

Focusing on the youngest, with the positive complicity of parents and teachers, is the path to follow if we truly want to raise tomorrow’s adults with critical thinking and free capacity for analysis and judgment. Indeed, “Gender stereotypes are reproduced through ‘binary socialization,’ through distinct educational models for males and females; they feed on widespread social symbolisms, which are apparently innocuous elements but in reality determine the early entrenchment of the corresponding roles: colors (pink and blue), toys (weapons and dolls), false myths (the prince charming and the princess to be saved), distinct sports (soccer and dance). These symbols are scattered everywhere, from language (overextended masculine) to cartoons, from media content to school textbooks, to games, to narratives,” concludes Tintori.

In addition to the Guide, the MUSA project has produced the video spot “Gender Differences at the Roots of Social Roles”, created in collaboration with CNR Web TV.

The Information Sheet

Who: Social Change, Evaluation and Methods (MUSA) research group of the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies of the National Research Council (CNR-IRPPS)

What: Guide to the deconstruction of gender stereotypes “Gender Stereotypes. Recognizing Them to Dismantle Them” and video spot “Gender Differences at the Roots of Social Roles.”

For information: Antonio Tintori, CNR-IRPPS, tel. 06.492724296, mobile 338.3628178, e-mail: antonio.tintori@cnr.it

– Tintori A., Cerbara L, Ciancimino G. (2023). The State of Adolescence 2023. National Survey on Attitudes and Behaviors of Female and Male Students in Public Upper Secondary Schools. CNR-IRPPS Working papers, no. 135;

– Cerbara L., Ciancimino G., Tintori A. (2022). Are We Still a Sexist Society? Primary Socialisation and Adherence to Gender Roles in Childhood. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health; 19(6), 3408; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19063408.

For information:
Antonio Tintori
CNR – Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies
antonio.tintori@cnr.it

Press Office:
Sandra Fiore
CNR – Press Unit
sandra.fiore@cnr.it

Head of Press Office Unit:
Emanuele Guerrini
emanuele.guerrini@cnr.it
ufficiostampa@cnr.it
06 4993 3383

See also:

Read More
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Adolescents: Isolation and Cyberbullying – Press Review

An increasing number of adolescents are living in a condition of isolation, hyperconnectivity, and exposure to the risk of cyberbullying. This is the picture outlined by two important studies published between January and February 2025 by the MUSA (Social Change, Evaluation and Methods) research group at CNR-IRPPS, with contributions from Antonio Tintori, Loredana Cerbara, and Giulia Ciancimino.

The first study, entitled “Self-isolation of adolescents after Covid-19 pandemic between social withdrawal and Hikikomori risk in Italy“, was published in the journal Scientific Reports of the Nature group. Based on data from two cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2019 and 2022 on nationally representative samples of 3,273 and 4,288 adolescents aged 14 to 19, the research highlights a concerning trend: the number of young people who no longer meet their friends outside the school setting has nearly doubled following the Covid-19 pandemic.

A few weeks later, the journal Societies (MDPI) published a second study, “Sociopsychological Analysis of a Highly Vulnerable Category of Adolescents: Victim-Perpetrators of Cyberbullying from a Wide National Survey of Italian Adolescents“, conducted by the same group. This research examines the phenomenon of cyberbullying among young people in Italy, analyzing the factors that influence the likelihood of becoming victims or perpetrators of cyberbullying episodes. Among the most significant aspects are gender, age, geographical origin, excessive digital connectivity, and low trust in adults.

Both studies have generated considerable interest in public debate, bringing to light dynamics that are often overlooked but increasingly relevant.

Below is a list of contributions published in recent weeks aimed at a broader audience.

Press Review

Video

Audio

Articles

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“Hikikomori” Risk Among Italian Adolescents: Article in Scientific Reports

CNR Press Release:

An analysis by the MUSA research group at CNR-IRPPS shows a sharp increase in the number of adolescents who no longer meet their friends outside of school: the figures have nearly doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, demonstrates that the increase in social isolation in Italy constitutes a serious problem, already chronic and correlated with the interaction of relational and psychological factors

A study conducted by the multidisciplinary research group “Social Change, Evaluation and Methods” (MUSA) of the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies of the National Research Council in Rome (CNR-IRPPS) investigated, through a socio-psychological research approach, the etiology of social withdrawal, identifying the triggering factors of such behavior among adolescents.

The research, published in the journal Scientific Reports of the Nature group, was based on data from two cross-sectional surveys conducted by the group in 2019 and 2022 on students from public upper secondary schools using the CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) technique and on nationally representative samples consisting of 3,273 and 4,288 adolescents aged 14 to 19 years, respectively. Through advanced statistical modeling techniques, three profiles of adolescents were identified: “social butterflies,” “friend-centric” and “lone wolves“: within this last profile, a subgroup was identified consisting of adolescents who no longer meet their friends outside of school, whose number has nearly doubled since the pandemic, rising from 5.6% in 2019 to 9.7% in 2022. These are the socially withdrawn.

“Previous studies by our research group had already clarified the causes of some negative effects of the change in social interactions accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated the transposition of human relationships into the virtual sphere,” explains Antonio Tintori, among the authors of the work together with Loredana Cerbara and Giulia Ciancimino of the MUSA research group at CNR-IRPPS. “It was seen in particular that hyperconnection, i.e., overexposure to social media, plays a primary role in this corrosive process of adolescent interaction and identity and subsequently of individual psychological well-being. Hyperconnection is primarily responsible for both self-isolation and the explosion of youth suicidal ideation. The study shows that not only have young people who limit themselves to school attendance alone in their lives drastically increased from 2019 to 2022, but also in the adolescent world the habit of spending free time face-to-face with friends has significantly decreased: “lone wolves” have even tripled in 3 years, rising from 15% to 39.4%.”

Although slightly more prevalent among girls, the phenomenon affects both sexes and shows no substantial regional differences, nor differences related to the type of school attended or the family’s socio-cultural and economic background, as previously assumed. This clearly indicates that the problem is becoming global and endemic.

What do these young people have in common? Poor quality of social relationships (with parents, particularly with the mother), low relational trust (toward family members and teachers), victimization from cyberbullying and bullying, hyperconnection to social media, low participation in extracurricular sports activities, and dissatisfaction with one’s body. “These factors, further fueled by the pervasive influence of social pressures to conform to unattainable standards, including aesthetic ones, erode self-esteem, fostering a sense of inadequacy in social interactions with peers,” adds Tintori. “We have also found that those already in a state of social withdrawal show more moderate use of social media: this opens the hypothesis that, as the time of physical isolation increases, one gradually disconnects from virtual interactions as well, i.e., one moves toward total renunciation of sociality.”

The phenomenon, comparable to that of hikikomori in Japan, could generate a genuine social emergency: “Our study, in addition to providing useful results for understanding the nature of the problem, highlights the urgency of educational and training interventions directed at parents and teachers, as well as support for young people, namely specific support for adolescents in the most critical conditions,” concludes the researcher.

The MUSA research group at CNR-IRPPS, among the first to investigate the phenomenon of social withdrawal, is now continuing its activities by launching a large-scale longitudinal survey aimed at answering still-open questions and further clarifying the factors in the process leading to self-isolation. The survey, called “Interactional Changes and Well-being,” will involve thousands of adolescent students from schools over five years, allowing detailed analysis of young people’s behavioral development in interaction modalities and other important aspects related to socio-psychological well-being.

The study benefited from the collaboration of Gianni Corsetti from ISTAT.

See the full article Cerbara, L., Ciancimino, G., Corsetti, G. et al. Self-isolation of adolescents after Covid-19 pandemic between social withdrawal and Hikikomori risk in Italy. Sci Rep 15, 1995 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84187-5

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Hyperconnection in Adolescence – Audio Abstract

The study analyzes data from two representative cross-sectional surveys conducted among Italian adolescents in 2019 and 2022, within the framework of the Youth Trends Observatory. The study examines changes in social media screen time, identifies the main socio-demographic predictors of hyperconnection, and explores its effects on young people’s relational and psychological well-being.

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Sport and Women’s Inclusion

March 7, 2024 – h. 8.30

Sala Marconi – CNR Piazzale Aldo Moro 7 – Rome

Download the program in pdf.
Read the event description on the CNR portal.

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The Development of Suicidal Thoughts in Adolescence – Article by the MUSA Group for Scientific Reports – Nature

According to a study by the MUSA research group (Social Change, Evaluation and Methods), suicidal thoughts now affect approximately half of Italian adolescents.

The article The developmental process of suicidal ideation among adolescents: social and psychological impact from a nation-wide survey – just published in Nature’s Scientific Reports journal – investigates the mechanism that leads to the development of such thoughts.


From the survey conducted by Antonio Tintori, Loredana Cerbara and Giulia Ciancimino, IRPPS, with Maurizio Pompili, UniSapienza, and Gianni Corsetti, ISTAT, the psychological distress that fuels suicidal thoughts does not constitute the origin of the problem, which is instead found in particular dynamics of social interaction and specific socio-demographic characteristics.

Antonio Tintori’s interview for Rai Radio1

The interdisciplinary epistemological approach adopted has also made it possible to show how factors usually considered influential, such as tolerance to the use of alcohol and psychotropic substances in general, are in fact only secondary in explaining the phenomenon.

Read the CNR press release and the article The developmental process of suicidal ideation among adolescents: social and psychological impact from a nation-wide survey.

Media coverage:

La Repubblica

AdnKronos
InSalute News
PanoramaSanità
Radio beckwith evangelica

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Adolescents and pornography – A study by the MUSA group

Increasing amounts of pornography for increasingly younger users. This is what emerges from a study recently published in the journal Societies, by Loredana Cerbara, Giulia Ciancimino and Antonio Tintori, IRPPS, and Gianni Corsetti, ISTAT.

In addition to highlighting the increase in pornography use associated with a decrease in the age of its consumers, the research confirmed its impact on the development of social and sexual identity. These are negative impacts on primary emotions, self-esteem, and body satisfaction in male and female adolescents. However, the study particularly notes how early exposure to pornography also has positive effects, but only on girls.

In boys, it actually produces a reinforcement of gender stereotypes in the context of relationships, adherence to gender roles even within the sexual sphere, and an increase in tolerance towards discriminatory, violent, and deviant behaviors. Conversely, for girls, pornography represents an experience of sexual empowerment which, unlike for males, transcends the boundaries of stereotyped hierarchies of social spaces. According to the authors, this diversity is the result of the “binary” socialization that is still predominant today, which reproduces gender stereotypes from generation to generation, leading to a passive adherence to predefined male and female social roles.

The results of this research suggest the importance and urgency of sexual education to be offered, if possible, in a school environment and with the mediation of professionals. This is in order to promote a critical approach — and not just a passive one — capable of overcoming the taboo of sex and moving beyond mainstream, heterosexual, and masculinized pornography, which provides a standardized and unrealistic image of bodies, sexual performance, and social relations.

The study was conducted using a psychosocial research approach and is based on the results of the national survey The State of Adolescence 2023, which involved 4,288 young high school students across the country.

At an international level, many studies have investigated the negative effects of early exposure to pornography, but the results are often controversial due to the use of different research techniques and both methodological and theoretical shortcomings.

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Youth Trends Observatory Awarded at Forum PA 2023

The Youth Trends Observatory (YTO) was awarded at Forum PA in the “gender equality” category of the 2023 Sustainable PA Award.

The award is promoted by FPA and ASviS, the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development, with the aim of recognizing experiences, solutions, and projects implemented by administrations (central and local), as well as associations and start-ups, to promote and support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out in the UN 2030 Agenda.

Among the reasons for the award: The general objective of the “Youth Trends Observatory” project was to promote equal gender opportunities and youth inclusion by combating deviance, violence, and social conditioning (stereotypes and prejudices) with particular attention to gender and psychological distress. The YTO consisted of three intervention modules. The first concerned primary schools in Rome, the second secondary schools throughout Italy, and the third the development of the Agenda for childhood and adolescence policies. The activities of these modules, which constituted a unified line of intervention, made it possible to produce new and detailed knowledge about the youth universe, deliver training activities on distress, deviance, and social conditioning, and define actions aimed at promoting well-being, equal opportunities, and inclusion (https://www.forumpa.it/progetti/forum-pa-2023-i-vincitori-del-premio-pa-sostenibile-2023/).

The YTO is a project managed by the research group on Social Change, Evaluation and Methods (MUSA) of IRPPS, with particular contributions from Antonio Tintori, project leader, Loredana Cerbara, and Giulia Ciancimino.

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