Sexism and Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Parenting in a Sample of Heterosexuals and Sexual Minorities: the Mediation Effect of Sexual Stigma Jessica Pistella 1 & Annalisa Tanzilli 2 & Salvatore Ioverno 2 & Vittorio Lingiardi 2 & Roberto Baiocco 1 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017 Abstract The present study aimed to: (a) investigate the re- lationship between attitudes toward same-sex parenting and sexism both in heterosexuals and sexual minorities; (b) verify whether sexism predicted negative attitudes toward same-sex parenting via the mediating role of sexual stigma (sexual prej- udice in heterosexual people and internalized sexual stigma [ISS] in lesbians and gay men [LG]). An Italian sample of 477 participants (65.6% heterosexual people and 34.4% LG peo- ple) was used to verify three hypotheses: (a) heterosexual men showed higher levels of sexism than heterosexual women and LG people; (b) heterosexual men reported more negative atti- tudes toward same-sex parenting than those of heterosexual women and LG people; and (c) sexual prejudice in heterosex- ual people and ISS in LG people mediated the relationship between sexism and attitudes toward same-sex parenting. Overall, men and heterosexual people showed stronger sexist tendencies and more negative attitudes toward same-sex par- enting. Moreover, sexism affected attitudes toward same-sex parenting via sexual prejudice in heterosexual people and ISS in LG people. These results suggest that negative attitudes toward same-sex parenting reflect sociocultural inequalities based on the traditional gender belief system and points to the necessity of social policies to reduce prejudice toward sexual minority groups. Keywords Sexism . Same-sex parenting . Internalized sexual stigma . Sexual prejudice . Minority stress Sexism is a system of inequality based on gender, which in- volves beliefs and discriminatory treatment about the superi- ority and privileges of men (Brown 2010; Eagly & Wood 1999). Glick and Fiske (1996, 2001) presented a theory of sexism based on ambivalence toward women and validated a corresponding measure, the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI). According to the authors, sexism is a multidimensional construct that encompasses two types of attitudes: BHostile sexism^ is an antipathy toward women who are viewed as usurping men’ s power, while Bbenevolent sexism^ is a sub- jectively favorable, chivalrous ideology that offers protection and affection to women who embrace conventional roles. Despite the greater social acceptability of benevolent sex- ism, several authors (Glick & Fiske 2001; Sibley & Wilson 2004) have suggested that it serves as a crucial complement to hostile sexism given that it helps to pacify women’ s resistance to societal gender inequality. Glick and Fiske (2001) found that benevolent sexism represents a barrier to gender equality (Becker & Wagner 2009; Sibley, Overall, & Duckitt 2007). For example, women who expected benevolent sexism in the workplace had worse performance and results (Dardenne, Dumont, & Bollier 2007); moreover, those who supported benevolent sexism were more likely to accept a sexist male partner who was apparently protective despite a potential neg- ative impact on their career aspirations (Hammond & Overall 2013; Moya, Glick, Expósito, de Lemus, & Hart 2007). The validation studies of the ASI (Glick & Fiske 1996; Glick et al. 2000) have demonstrated that men reported higher levels of hostile sexism than women do; in particular, they showed negative attitudes toward career women and positive attitudes toward housewives because career women deviated from the * Roberto Baiocco roberto.baiocco@uniroma1.it 1 Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy 2 Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy Sex Res Soc Policy DOI 10.1007/s13178-017-0284-y