This project develops and applies a novel instrument to measure aporophobia, defined as the rejection of people experiencing poverty. Its core contribution is the Aporophobia Implicit Association Test (AporoIAT), an experimental tool designed to assess implicit biases toward economically disadvantaged groups. By capturing subconscious attitudes that may influence social interactions and policy orientations, the project advances the empirical understanding of socio-economic stigma and contributes to promoting social cohesion and non-discrimination.

The SACRU Research Mobility Fund will support structured research stays at SACRU member universities, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia), to enable the cross-national implementation of the AporoIAT. These visits are essential to ensure methodological standardisation, data comparability, and coordinated research execution across sites.

The mobility includes two one-month international research stays at the above institutions and aims to strengthen collaboration within the SACRU network. The project is supervised by Prof. Flavio Vasconcellos Comim and Prof. Mihály Tamás Borsi, and is conducted in collaboration with Prof. Alexandre de Oliveira Marques at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and Prof. Cesar Andres Mantilla Ribero at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.

By comparing data collected in Spain, Brazil, and Colombia, the project seeks to examine how implicit attitudes toward poverty vary across socio-economic and cultural contexts, and whether these patterns reflect broader psychological mechanisms or context-specific forms of socio-economic stigma.