Personal statement

Dr Renata Bongiorno is a social psychologist who studies stereotypes, collective action and social change, particularly relating to gender.

Renata received her PhD from the Australian National University in 2010. She subsequently worked as a researcher and lectured in Australia for 6 years, primarily based at The University of Queensland. In 2017, Renata moved to the UK to work as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Exeter for 5 years. Renata also taught on the "Psychology of Gender" module at Exeter, receiving a Teaching Excellence Award.

She joined Bath Spa University in 2022 and is one of the leads for the Level 5 core module "Biological and Social Psychology." Renata also teaches on the Level 6 core module "Contemporary Applications of Psychological Science" and supervises undergraduate dissertation projects exploring topics such as attitudes towards the #MeToo social movement and gendered career aspirations.

Renata’s published research spans multiple areas, including understanding prejudices towards women and privileges afforded to men in leadership, how people are mobilised to act on climate change, how identity and emotion contribute to biases when responding (or failing to respond) to gender-based violence, and effects of neoliberal feminism on women's protest motivation. 

Some of Renata’s ongoing projects include examining men’s engagement with the gender-equality cause (supported by a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant), and advancing new theory and analysis to examine stereotype content, with projects on gender bias affecting leadership and gender and class biases in STEM fields.

Renata's research has received broad media coverage, including in Psychology Today, BBC, Forbes, The Huffington Post, Medium, and New Scientist. Renata has also written articles about her research for the general public and given invited presentations to community, industry and academic audiences in Australia, Europe, and North America.

Renata regularly acts as a reviewer for academic journals in the areas of social, political and organisational psychology, and gender studies.

Academic qualifications

  • PhD, Australian National University, 2010
  • BA (First Class Honours, Psychology), Australian National University, 2002
  • Renata also completed a major in Sociology and a minor in Anthropology.

Professional qualifications

  • Fellow - Higher Education Academy
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education.

Other external roles

  • Editorial Consultant, British Journal of Social Psychology
  • Guest Editor for Frontiers in Psychology – Research Topic: Understanding Barriers to Workplace Equality: A Focus on the Target’s Perspective (2018)
  • Ad-hoc reviewing for Social Psychological and Personality Science, British Journal of Social Psychology, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, Sex Roles, Psychology of Women Quarterly, Australian Journal of Psychology, European Journal of Social Psychology, Journal of Social and Political Psychology, Social Cognition, Journal of Experimental Criminology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Social Psychology, Political Behavior, Social Justice Research.

Teaching subjects 

  • Stereotypes and discrimination
  • Gender and its interaction with other social identities
  • Prejudice and privilege
  • Power and leadership
  • Group processes and intergroup relations 
  • Collective action and social change.

Research impact

Selected Media Coverage:

  • Forbes, "Why Asking Women To Lean In Undermines Gender Equality Efforts" (August 16, 2024)  
  • Psychology Today, "5 reasons people blame victims" (September 4, 2023)
  • Forbes, "How much money is enough? New study says not as much as you think (Except for Americans)" (July 20, 2022)
  • Psychology Today, "Does PETA have a Porn Problem?" (June 1, 2022)
  • Medium, “Sex doesn’t sell” (May 9, 2021)
  • The Conversation, “I’m a sexual assault counsellor. Here’s why it’s so hard for survivors to come forward, and what happens when they do” (March 3, 2021)
  • Medium, “Computer vision tells us how the presidential candidates really feel” (22 October, 2020)
  • Forbes, “The dark side of empathy: Why women are blamed for being sexually harassed” (August 27, 2019)
  • BBC, “Sexual harassment and victim-blaming women: Why male 'empathy' could be key” (August 19, 2019)
  • Independent “Men more likely to victim-blame women who are sexually harassed, research indicates” (August 19, 2019)
  • The Raw Story, “A psychological scientist explains why GOP women are more willing to overlook sexual assault allegations”(October 10, 2018)
  • Slate, “One not-so-easy trick to persuade people to fight climate change” (September 24, 2017)
  • The Conversation, “Don’t believe the hype: sexually-charged advertising is not the best way to push a product” (June 29, 2017)
  • Daily Life, “The disturbing expectation on how female rape victims should act (March 17, 2016)
  • news.com.au, “New study shows our shocking double standards towards rape victims” (March 10, 2016)
  • The Huffington Post, “How to stop sexism at the ballot box” (February 24, 2016)
  • The Boston Globe, “Sexiness: Bad for the cause” (December 29, 2013)
  • Salon, “Surprise PETA! Sex doesn’t sell” (December 20, 2013)
  • Sydney Morning Herald, “Peeling back the layers, sexist ads don’t work” (December 20, 2013)
  • Forbes, “Team underperforming? Hire a female manager to take the blame” (October 10, 2013)

Other outputs

Preprints

Bongiorno, R., Bain, P.G., Ryan, M. K., Kroonenberg, P. M., Leach, C. W. (2021, May 18) Think Leader – Think (Immoral Power-Hungry) Man: An expanded Framework for Understanding Stereotype Content and Leader-Gender Bias. 10.31234/osf.io/p5uya

Outreach articles

Bongiorno, R. (October, 2018). “Brett Kavanaugh: why Republican women may be willing to overlook sexual assault allegations.” The Conversation (available online)

Bongiorno, R. (July, 2016). “Coalition’s lost ground on women MPs shows we need to tackle new gender biases”. The Conversation (available online)

Bongiorno, R. (July, 2013). “Female politicians pay a higher price for their flaws.” The Age (available online)

Research supervision

Renata is particularly interested in working with students on projects that examine:

  • the content and effects of gender stereotypes
  • how to improve bystander responding to support victims of gender-based violence
  • men's engagement with the gender equality cause.

Please get in contact with Renata if these or related areas of research interest you.

Research and academic outputs

Go to ResearchSPAce

Measuring collective action intention toward gender equality across cultures
article

Besta, T et al (2024) 'Measuring collective action intention toward gender equality across cultures.' European Journal of Psychological Assessment. ISSN 2151-2426

Neoliberal feminism and women's protest motivation
article

Bongiorno, R, Ryan, M.K, Gibson, O and Joyce, H (2024) 'Neoliberal feminism and women's protest motivation.' Psychology of Women Quarterly, 48 (3). pp. 335-358. ISSN 0361-6843

MANdatory - why men need (and are needed for) gender equality progress
article

Van Laar, C, Van Rossum, A, Kosakowska-Berezecka, N, Bongiorno, R and Block, K (2024) 'MANdatory - why men need (and are needed for) gender equality progress.' Frontiers in Psychology, 15. e1263313. ISSN 1664-1078

Worldviews about change: their structure and their implications for understanding responses to sustainability, technology, and political change
article

Bain, P.G, Bongiorno, R, Tinson, K, Heanue, A, Gómez, Á, Guan, Y, Lebedeva, N, Kashima, E, González, R, Chen, S.X, Blumen, S and Kashima, Y (2023) 'Worldviews about change: their structure and their implications for understanding responses to sustainability, technology, and political change.' Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 26 (4). pp. 504-535. ISSN 1467-839X

Gendered self-views across 62 countries: a test of competing models
article

Kosakowska-Berezecka, N et al (2023) 'Gendered self-views across 62 countries: a test of competing models.' Social Psychological and Personality Science, 14 (7). pp. 808-824. ISSN 1948-5506

Evidence from 33 countries challenges the assumption of unlimited wants
article

Bain, P.G and Bongiorno, R (2022) 'Evidence from 33 countries challenges the assumption of unlimited wants.' Nature Sustainability, 5. pp. 669-673. ISSN 2398-9629

The deficit bias: candidate gender differences in the relative importance of facial stereotypic qualities to leadership hiring
article

Pireddu, S, Bongiorno, R, Ryan, M.K, Rubini, M and Menegatti, M (2022) 'The deficit bias: candidate gender differences in the relative importance of facial stereotypic qualities to leadership hiring.' British Journal of Social Psychology, 61 (2). pp. 644-671. ISSN 0144-6665

Psychometric properties and correlates of precarious manhood beliefs in 62 nations
article

Bosson, J.K et al (2021) 'Psychometric properties and correlates of precarious manhood beliefs in 62 nations.' Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 52 (3). pp. 231-258. ISSN 0022-0221

Editorial: Understanding barriers to workplace equality: a focus on the target's perspective
article

Ryan, M.K, Begeny, C.T, Bongiorno, R, Kirby, T.A and Morgenroth, T (2020) 'Editorial: Understanding barriers to workplace equality: a focus on the target's perspective.' Frontiers in Psychology, 11. e1279. ISSN 1664-1078

Why women are blamed for being sexually harassed: the effects of empathy for female victims and male perpetrators
article

Bongiorno, R, Langbroek, C, Bain, P.G, Ting, M and Ryan, M.K (2020) 'Why women are blamed for being sexually harassed: the effects of empathy for female victims and male perpetrators.' Psychology of Women Quarterly, 44 (1). pp. 11-27. ISSN 0361-6843

It's not too late to do the right thing: moral motivations for climate change action
article

Bain, P.G and Bongiorno, R (2020) 'It's not too late to do the right thing: moral motivations for climate change action.' WIREs Climate Change, 11 (1). e615. ISSN 1757-7780

Mobilizing cause supporters through group-based interaction
article

Bongiorno, R, McGarty, C, Kurz, T, Haslam, S.A and Sibley, C.G (2016) 'Mobilizing cause supporters through group-based interaction.' Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 46 (4). pp. 203-215. ISSN 0021-9029

The selective use of rape-victim stereotypes to protect culturally similar perpetrators
article

Bongiorno, R, McKimmie, B.M and Masser, B.M (2016) 'The selective use of rape-victim stereotypes to protect culturally similar perpetrators.' Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40 (3). pp. 398-413. ISSN 0361-6843

Are individualism and “masculinity” related when controlling for regional proximity? A reappraisal of Barry (2015)
article

Bain, P.G and Bongiorno, R (2015) 'Are individualism and “masculinity” related when controlling for regional proximity? A reappraisal of Barry (2015).' Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 46 (9). pp. 1226-1231. ISSN 0022-0221

If you're going to be a leader, at least act like it! Prejudice towards women who are tentative in leader roles
article

Bongiorno, R, Bain, P.G and David, B (2014) 'If you're going to be a leader, at least act like it! Prejudice towards women who are tentative in leader roles.' British Journal of Social Psychology, 53 (2). pp. 217-234. ISSN 0144-6665

Looking shifty but telling the truth: the effect of witness demeanour on mock jurors’ perceptions
article

McKimmie, B.M, Masser, B.M and Bongiorno, R (2014) 'Looking shifty but telling the truth: the effect of witness demeanour on mock jurors’ perceptions.' Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 21 (2). pp. 297-310. ISSN 1321-8719

What counts as rape? The effect of offense prototypes, victim stereotypes, and participant gender on how the complainant and defendant are perceived
article

McKimmie, B.M, Masser, B.M and Bongiorno, R (2014) 'What counts as rape? The effect of offense prototypes, victim stereotypes, and participant gender on how the complainant and defendant are perceived.' Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 29 (12). pp. 2273-2303. ISSN 0886-2605

When sex doesn't sell: using sexualized images of women reduces support for ethical campaigns
article

Bongiorno, R, Bain, P.G and Haslam, N (2013) 'When sex doesn't sell: using sexualized images of women reduces support for ethical campaigns.' PLoS ONE, 8 (12). e83311. ISSN 1932-6203

Collective futures: how projections about the future of society are related to actions and attitudes supporting social change
article

Bain, P.G, Hornsey, M.J, Bongiorno, R, Kashima, Y and Crimston, C.R (2013) 'Collective futures: how projections about the future of society are related to actions and attitudes supporting social change.' Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39 (4). pp. 523-539. ISSN 0146-1672

Promoting pro-environmental action in climate change deniers
article

Bain, P.G, Hornsey, M.J, Bongiorno, R and Jeffries, C (2012) 'Promoting pro-environmental action in climate change deniers.' Nature Climate Change, 2 (8). pp. 600-603. ISSN 1758-678X

Think crisis–think female: the glass cliff and contextual variation in the think manager–think male stereotype
article

Ryan, M.K, Haslam, S.A, Hersby, M.D and Bongiorno, R (2011) 'Think crisis–think female: the glass cliff and contextual variation in the think manager–think male stereotype.' Journal of Applied Psychology, 96 (3). pp. 470-484. ISSN 0021-9010

Collective action as the material expression of opinion-based group membership
article

McGarty, C, Bliuc, A-M, Thomas, E.F and Bongiorno, R (2009) 'Collective action as the material expression of opinion-based group membership.' Journal of Social Issues, 65 (4). pp. 839-857. ISSN 0022-4537

Motivation, satisfaction, and retention: understanding the importance of vets' day-to-day work experiences
commissioned_report

Begeny, C, Ryan, M and Bongiorno, R (2018) Motivation, satisfaction, and retention: understanding the importance of vets' day-to-day work experiences. British Veterinary Association Workforce Report.

Depersonalization
other

McGarty, C, Bliuc, A-M and Bongiorno, R (2010) Depersonalization. Sage encyclopedia of group processes and intergroup relations. pp. 198-200.

Categorization
other

McGarty, C, Bongiorno, R and Bliuc, A-M (2010) Categorization. Sage encyclopedia of group processes and intergroup relations. pp. 67-73.