Marie Sarlet has a degree in psychological sciences and is currently working on her doctorate as a FNRS-FRS research fellow at the ULg’s social psychology department run by Benoît Dardenne. As part of her degree studies, Marie Sarlet edited a book with Altaï Manço, the director of IRFAM, focusing on the theme of ‘alternative’ tourism as a vector of social insertion (Tourismes et diversités. Facteurs de développement? ‘Tourisms and Diversities: Factors of Development?’, which was published by Harmattan, Paris, 2008). She specialises in the study of intergroup relationships, and more particularly in the fields of sexism and discrimination. She produced an end of study dissertation and is now working on a thesis on the theme of ambivalent sexism. This theory posits that sexism is bi-dimensional: it contains a negative component, hostile sexism, and a positive component, benevolent sexism or paternalism. This latter form of sexism, positive in appearance, suggests that women are soft, fragile and warm, but incompetent. Far from being innocent, the consequences of paternalism leave their mark on the cognitive functioning (short term memory, autobiographical (episodic) memory, performance in job recruitment and hiring tests) of the women who are confronted with it. In her doctorate she identifies the mechanisms and tries to determine potential remedies for this ‘subtle’ form of discrimination.

Selection of publications

DUMONT, M., SARLET, M. & DARDENNE, B. Be kind to a woman, she’ll feel incompetent: benevolent sexism shifts self-construal and autobiographical memories towards incompetence. Sex Roles, in preparation for publication.