Italian Children's Attitudes towards National, Supranational, Local and Regional Groups.

Acculturation profiles, psychosocial adaptation and perceived discrimination among Tunisian adolescents

The study refers to data coming from the Italian section of MIRIPS project. It was focused on the analysis of the adaptation of Tunisian adolescents living in Italy and it was guided by the integration hypothesis, stating that migrants feel better if they are engaged in both their own culture and that of the larger society than if they engage in one or the other culture only. Using a person-oriented approach, the study investigated the relationships between acculturation profiles - namely patterns of relations between factors associated to the acculturation process (e.g., acculturation strategies, ethnic and national identities, ethnic and national language use, social contacts with people …

Self-Other Differentiation Scale: Dimensionality, IRT Parameterization, and Measurement Invariance

The Self-Other Differentiation Scale (Olver, Aries, & Batgos, 1989) is a self-report instrument assessing the experience of a separate sense of self from others. The authors aimed to examine its dimensionality, reliability, and measurement invariance across gender. It was completed by 348 participants (48% men) from 17 to 30 years old in Study 1, 348 participants (40% men) from 18 to 28 years old in Study 2, and 1,068 participants (49% men) from 17 to 28 years old in Study 3. The results supported the hypothesis of just one factor underlying the scale; they also showed an appropriate internal consistency and a partial measurement invariance across gender. Results also showed evidence fo…

Childhood maltreatment, personality vulnerability profiles, and borderline personality disorder symptoms in adolescents.

AbstractAdverse childhood experiences are significant risk factors in the development of adolescent borderline personality disorder symptoms (BPDs). Theorists have posited that two personality vulnerabilities factors, self-criticism and dependency, may inform our understanding of this relationship. However, no research has examined the associations between early negative experiences, personality vulnerabilities, and adolescent BPDs. The current study aimed to identify profiles of dependency and self-criticism to examine the associations of these profiles with cumulative forms of childhood maltreatment (CM) and BPDs as well as to explore the mediating and moderating role of vulnerable person…

УЧЕБНО РЪКОВОДСТВО ПО ПРОЕКТ Tra.C.I.E. Oбучение по гражданство и междукултурни отношения в Европа

Childhood Maltreatment, Pathological Personality Dimensions, and Suicide Risk in Young Adults

Several studies have demonstrated that child maltreatment (psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, and neglect) may be a significant factor in the development of pathological personality traits that increase the risk for suicidal ideation and behavior from adolescence to adulthood. Currently, the challenge is to understand how different forms of early negative experiences render an individual prone to develop specific personality traits and, in turn, be more vulnerable to suicide risk. To understand the relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality dimensions in suicide risk, our study aims to explore the role of self-criticism and dependency, two different pathological per…

Manuale Tra.C.I.E.Educare alla Cittadinanza e all’Intercultura in Europa

Lo sviluppo del senso di appartenenza all’Europa in bambini e preadolescenti italiani

The national and supranational identity in Italian and Ukrainian adolescents: A cross-cultural comparison.

Relationships Between Ethnic Identity, Ethnic Attitudes, and Acculturative Stress in Tunisian Individuals in Early and Middle Adolescence

Framed from an integrative approach, the current article examined the associations between ethnic identity exploration (EIE), ethnic identity commitment (EIC), and acculturative stress by investigating the mediating role of ethnic attitudes (i.e., in-group favoritism and out-group derogation) in these relationships. Additionally, the moderating role of age was analyzed. A multiple-group path analysis was performed on data collected from 256 Tunisians in early and 248 in middle adolescence living in Italy, which is an interesting and understudied immigrant group characterized by similarities and differences with the host population. In younger adolescents, EIE and EIC were indirectly and po…

In-group Favouritism and Out-group Derogation in a Developmental Perspective: Italian Children’s Attitudes towards National Groups.

Manual Tra.C.I.E. La educación intercultural y para la ciudadanía en Europa

The Relationship between Parental Monitoring, Peer Pressure, and Motivations for Responsible Drinking among Italian Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Positive Alcohol Expectancies.

This study investigated the associations between parental monitoring, peer pressure, and motivations for responsible drinking, while also taking the mediating role of positive alcohol expectancies into account. The participants were 579 Italian adolescents, aged 14-20 years (M = 16.39 years, SD = 1.27; 55.3% females), involved in a cross-sectional survey. They were administered online self-report questionnaires. Structural equation modeling revealed both direct and indirect positive associations between study variables. Parental monitoring was positively associated, both directly and indirectly, with adolescents' motivations for responsible drinking through the mediation of positive alcohol…

Sociodemographic and psychological correlates of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in the young adult population in Italy.

Background: Previous research has shown that young adults are more hesitant/resistant to COVID-19 vaccine uptake than older age groups, although the factors underlying this tendency are still under debate. The current study aimed to identify the sociodemographic and psychological correlates of vaccine hesitancy and resistance among young adults (18–40 years) during the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Italy, the first country after China being hit by the pandemic and which suffered a large number of fatalities. Methods: This is a cross-sectional, web-based study conducted in Italy using an ISO-certified international survey company (respondi.com). Data were collected on 1200 part…

Training citizenship and intercultural education in Europe: Main needs and best practices

Intercultural Relations in Italy

In culturally diverse societies, one of the biggest questions on our minds is 'how shall we all live together?' The chapter offers an answer to this fundamental and topical issue. By exploring intercultural relationships between dominant/national and non-dominant/ethnic populations in Italy, the authors analyse 'general' principles of intercultural relations and guidelines for social inclusion.

Mutual intercultural relations among immigrant and autochthonous youth in Italy. Testing the integration, multiculturalism, and contact hypotheses

Italy is increasingly becoming a culturally complex society. This poses numerous challenges for developmental and educational psychology, mainly in terms of how to encourage adequate levels of social harmony by promoting positive development of both immigrant and autochthonous youth. Within this perspective, the current paper presents the Italian findings of the Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies (MIRIPS) international project, postulating the centrality of three core hypotheses: integration, multiculturalism, and contact. Two studies were performed to investigate these hypotheses. Study 1 comprised 188 Tunisian adolescents aged 13-18 (51% F; Mage=15.94), while Study 2 inclu…

L’identità europea e nazionale nel passaggio dall’infanzia alla preadolescenza

La ricerca intende esplorare, in bambini e preadolescenti italiani, i percorsi di costruzione dell’identità europea in rapporto a forme simili di identità sociale (nazionale, regionale e locale). A questo scopo sono stati intervistati 252 partecipanti (tra i 6 e i 12 anni) tramite una procedura che consente di rilevare – in relazione a ciascuna delle forme identitarie studiate – modalità di auto-categorizzazione, importanza relativa e grado di identificazione. I dati mostrano che l’identità europea diventa rilevante a 12 anni, quella regionale a 9, mentre l’identità nazionale e locale lo sono sin dai 6 anni. I risultati vengono commentati in una prospettiva socio-evolutiva, esaminandone le …

Intercultural Profiles and Adaptation Among Immigrant and Autochthonous Adolescents

Few studies examine relationships between intercultural strategies and adaptation among adolescents using a person-oriented approach. Framed from an intercultural psychology perspective, this study used such an approach in order to examine the influence of intercultural profiles, patterns of relationships among variables related to intercultural strategies, on the adaptation of adolescents of both non-dominant and dominant groups. Two hundred and fifty-six adolescents living in Italy and aged from 14 to 18 participated to the study: 127 immigrants from Tunisia (males = 49.61%) and 129 autochthonous (males = 44.19%). Data were collected through self-report questionnaires. Using cluster analy…

PER UNA POLITICA EUROPEA DI GOVERNANCE. SVILUPPO DELL' IDENTITA' EUROPEA E STRATEGIE DI COMUNICAZIONE

The Peer Obervation: "Mentore" Project at the University of Palermo

During the last six years, at the University of Palermo, a group of academics has been involved in a project called “MENTORE” (“Modifying and ENhancing Teaching through peer Observation and Reflections with Experts”). The objectives of the project are: to help teachers improve their teaching, through the help of two mentors; to experiment new approaches in pilot courses to extend, if useful, to other ones; and to change the traditional model of academic teaching based on one single teacher with the class to go towards a model where there is a group of teachers working together in search of improvements. All the participants of the MENTORE project attend to lectures/workshops on teaching and…

Psychological Well-Being and Career Indecision in Emerging Adulthood: The Moderating Role of Hardiness

Choosing a career path is an important developmental task during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. However, many emerging adults (EAs)-individuals between 18 and 29 years of age (Inguglia et al., 2016)-struggle to get their career decision-making processes under way because they need a long time to explore various possible career directions (Arnett, 2004; Miller & Rottinghaus, 2014). In particular, this condition concerns EAs who are never employed and is traditionally associated with the construct of career indecision (Gati et al., 2011; Gati, Krausz, & Osipow, 1996), referring to the difficulties that can slow or even stop the career decision-making process.Among such difficul…

Manual Tra.C.I.E. - Formação em Cidadania e Educação Intercultural na Europa

Relazioni tra identità etnica, atteggiamenti intergruppo e stress di acculturazione in adolescenza: l’effetto moderatore dell’età

Parental psychological control, autonomy support and Italian emerging adult’s psychosocial well-being: a cluster analytic approach

According to a person-oriented approach, the study was addressed to inquire the existence of different groups of emerging adults (EAs) each characterized by distinct configurations of parental psychological control and autonomy support conceptualized in terms of promotion of volitional functioning (PVF) and in terms promotion of independence (PI). At the study participated 476 Italian undergraduate students following the academic track in several south Italian universities. Results showed the existence of four profiles: 1. the Moderate Volitional Dependence cluster; 2. the Moderate Controlling Independence cluster; 3. the Volitional Independence cluster; 4. the Controlling Dependence cluste…

Socio-developmental aspects of European identity: The influence of age, gender and context

In the last years, researchers have been interested in understanding factors affecting the development of European identity. To contribute new insights to the literature, this study explored how age, gender and context variables influence the process of European identification and the attitudes towards Europeans in two different Italian groups: Northern Italians and Southern Italians. Interview data were collected from 1037 children and adolescents (472 males, 565 females), aged from 6 to 16 years old and living in northern and southern regions of Italy. They were asked to answer an individual interview during school time. For the particular purposes of the study, four main measures were us…

Satisfaction and frustration of autonomy and relatedness needs: Associations with parenting dimensions and psychological functioning

Framed from Basic Psychological Needs Theory (Ryan and Deci in American Psychologist 55:68–78; Ryan, Deci, American Psychologist 55:68–78, 2000) and Kagitcibasi’s Autonomous-Related Self Theory (Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 36:1–20; Kagitcibasi, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 36:1–20, 2005), the study examined the relationships of adolescents’ satisfaction and frustration of autonomy and relatedness, with (a) adolescents’ perception of mother’s and father’s psychological control and autonomy support, and (b) adolescents’ self-acceptance and anxiety. Participants were 556 adolescents (M = 17.25, SD = 0.92). Path analysis showed more significant associations of autonomy support …

A Revised Short Form of the Extended Class Play Among Italian Early Adolescents

Among the measures assessing peer reputation, the Extended Class Play (ECP) is now used extensively in North American settings. Little information is available in other cultural contexts. Furthermore, practical considerations suggest developing a shorter form of the ECP to be used in socio-educational environments. This study examined the ECP dimensions of peer assessment in Italy as well as developed a shorter form of the measure. We revised the ECP using factor analyses according to an explorative-confirmatory approach. The original 37-item ECP was shortened to a 22-item version and, subsequently, the properties of the revised measure were evaluated. We performed two studies comprising, r…

Parenting Dimensions and Internalizing Difficulties in Italian and U.S. Emerging Adults: The Intervening Role of Autonomy and Relatedness

The present study examined the associations between emerging adults’ perceived parental psychological control and autonomy support, and their autonomy, relatedness and internalizing difficulties in Italy and the U.S. The participants included 494 Italian and 414 U.S. college students, between 18 and 28 years of age (Mean = 21.58, SD = 2.18). Our findings showed that dependency-oriented psychological control had no significant direct associations with autonomy, relatedness or internalizing difficulties. Moreover, the association between parental autonomy support and internalizing problems was fully intervened by autonomy and relatedness, whereas the association between achievement-oriented p…

Are children’s levels of national and supranational identification related to their attitudes towards the national and supranational ingroup and outgroups?

Tra.C.I.E.Handbook – Training Citizenship and Intercultural Education in Europe.

Understanding Factors Affecting Well-Being of Marginalized Populations in Different Cultural Contexts: Ethnic and National Identity of Roma Minority Youth in Europe

This chapter focuses on the intersection of the third, fourth and tenth Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), referring together to key pillars for improving social inclusion of vulnerable disadvantaged youth. Based on both Positive Youth Development approach and mutual intercultural relations perspective, it sets out to investigate developmental assets (such as ethnic and national identities), optimal outcomes (self-esteem), and their relations among Roma youth in six European countries (Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Kosovo, and Romania). Among these countries, the Czech Republic was initially recognized as the more favorable context facilitating potential alignment of Roma…

In-group favouritism and out-group derogation towards national groups: Age-related differences among Italian school children

Abstract Recently many researchers investigated intergroup attitudes among children, but only few studies analyzed developmental pathways of in-group favouritism and out-group derogation in considerable samples across broad age ranges. The present study aims at examining age-related differences in in-group favouritism and out-group derogation towards national groups among Italian children. Six hundred-seven children (305 males, 302 females), aged 6–12 living in Italy, were asked to answer an individual interview, making various evaluations of the national in-group and of 2 salient national out-groups (German and English). For research purposes 3 measures were used: number of positive traits…

How Do Religiosity and Spirituality Associate with Health-Related Outcomes of Adolescents with Chronic Illnesses? A Scoping Review.

The aim of the current scoping review was to explore the associations between religious and spiritual factors and the health-related outcomes of adolescents with chronic illnesses, as well as to investigate possible mechanisms accounting for these relationships. In total, 20 studies meeting the eligibility criteria were reviewed after performing a search of the Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. The results suggested that religious and spiritual beliefs, thoughts, and practices (e.g., spiritual coping activities) might have both beneficial and deleterious effects on the way adolescents deal with their medical condition, on their psychosocial adjustment, on their mental and physic…

L’atteggiamento di apertura verso le differenze culturali in adolescenti italiani: il ruolo dell’età e della sicurezza percepita.

The Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS)

Abstract. The current study proposed the adaptation of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) to the religious domain as an instrument to measure both individuals’ religious identity formation processes (when a variable-centered approach is adopted) and religious identity statuses (when a person-centered approach is adopted). The scale has been tested on a sample of 727 Italian participants aged 13–65 years, by collecting evidence of score structure, convergent, and criterion-related validity. Regarding the score structure validity, we confirmed that religious identity formation consists of three processes (commitment, in-depth exploration, reconsideration of commitm…

Peer Reputation Configurations and Associations with Friendship Adjustment

Peer reputation (PR) refers to how peer groups collectively view an individual in terms of socio-behavioral characteristics, such as aggression, social withdrawal, leadership, and prosociality. Despite considerable research on PR, few studies have considered PRs in relation to indices of friendship, particularly with a person-centered approach. The goal of the current study was to adopt such an approach and identify peer reputation configurations and their defining characteristics, and to examine how such configurations are linked to friendship prevalence and quality. Four hundred and twenty-six Italian seventh-grade students (57.3% male, M-age = 12.07) completed peer nomination measures of…

The development of national and European identity: A cross-cultural comparison between Italian and Ukrainian children and adolescents.

Developmental Aspects of Ethnic Identity: Links with Acculturation, Attitudes and Perceived Intercultural Relations

The development of national and European identity among children living in Italy: A cross-cultural comparison

Percorsi di sviluppo dell'identità europea in bambini e preadolescenti italiani

Una cittadinanza europea possibile. Il contributo della psicologia

Training teachers for effective Citizenship and Intercultural Education. A best practice

The paper aims at introducing the training methodology developed during the project “Training Citizenship and Intercultural Education: methods and resources for adult learning (Tra.C.I.E.)”. The project was funded in the framework of the Lifelong Learning Program (Grundtvig, Multilateral projects) and involved five organizations of different European countries (Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal, Romania, and Spain). Tra.C.I.E. methodology consists of a set of curricula for the training of the educators in the field of Citizenship and Intercultural Education. It was developed on the basis of an analysis of the main needs of the European educators, as well as considering the best practices already de…

The moderating effect of attachment styles on the relationships between maltreatment experiences and internalizing and externalizing problems among adolescents: Implications for custody issues

Multiple studies have documented the relationship between child maltreatment and internalizing and externalizing problems. Evidence suggests that the link between child maltreatment and these psychopathological outcomes may be moderated by various factors. Attachment styles may be one such moderating factor in this relationship. This study seeks to explore whether different attachment style profiles are associated with different forms of maltreatment as well as internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and whether attachment styles may moderate the link between different forms of maltreatment and internalizing and externalizing problems. For this purpose, 387 students from Italian public hi…

The development of children’s identification: A cross-cultural comparison between Bulgaria, Italy and Ukraine

The study presented here analyses the development of self-categorisation, national, supranational, local and regional identification of Bulgarian, Ukrainian and Italian children and adolescents growing up in Bulgaria, Ukraine and Italy. The sample consisted of 541 children aged 6, 9, 12 and 15 years. It was found that national, supranational, local and regional identifications differ in the three national groups. It is argued that the cognitive-developmental account of the development of national identification is unable to explain the patterns of findings which were obtained. Social representations theory and Social identity theory, however, are able to explain the different patterns of im…

Mediating and moderating processes in the relationship between multicultural ideology and attitudes towards immigrants in emerging adults

Few studies examine intercultural relations in emerging adulthood. Framed from the perspective of the Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies (MIRIPS) project, the current paper examined the mediating role of tolerance and perceived consequences of immigration in the relationship between multicultural ideology and attitudes towards immigrants. Additionally, the moderating role of context was analysed. A two-group structural equation modelling was performed on data collected from 305 Italian emerging adults living both in northern and in southern Italy with different socio-political climates towards immigrants. In both groups, tolerance and perceived consequences of immigration me…

Multiple Social Identities in Relation to Self-Esteem of Adolescents in Post-communist Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Kosovo, and Romania

We test a model linking ethnic, familial, and religious identity to self-esteem among youth in Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Kosovo, and Romania. All countries are post-communist nations in Europe, offering novel and underexplored settings to study identity. Participants were 880 adolescents (mean age, 15.93 years; SD, 1.40) with Albanian (n = 209), Bulgarian (n = 146), Czech (n = 306), Kosovan (n = 116), and Romanian (n = 103) background who filled in an Ethnic Identity Scale (Dimitrova et al., 2016), familial and religious identity scales adapted from the Utrecht Management of Identity Commitment Scales [U-MICS; Crocetti et al. Child and Youth Care Forum, 40, 7–23 (2011); Crocett…

Cumulative Childhood Maltreatment and Non‐Suicidal Self‐Injury: the Mediating and Moderating Role of Perceived Social Support in a Sample of University Students

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in young adults is recognized as a major public health concern. Some studies have identi- fied cumulative childhood maltreatment (CCM) as a significant vulnerability factor for NSSI, although the nature of this association remains unclear. Specifically, some theorists have investigated the role of perceived social support (PSS), con- sidered an important factor closely associated with both CCM and NSSI. The aim of the current study was to simultaneously investigate the potential mediating and moderating role of PSS from family and friends in the association between CCM and NSSI in a university student sample. Participants were 474 students (73.4% female; Mage…

Associations Among Psychologically Controlling Parenting, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Problem Behaviors During Emerging Adulthood.

ABSTRACTThe present study aimed to investigate the relations among perceived parental psychological control (PPC), autonomy and relatedness, and negative outcomes during emerging adulthood in two cultural contexts: Italy and the USA. More specifically, we explored the mechanisms through which dependency-oriented PPC (DPPC) and achievement-oriented PPC (APPC) are associated with both internalizing and externalizing difficulties, focusing on the mediating role of autonomy and relatedness. Participants were 418 European-American and 359 Italian college students. Results indicated that the expressions of PPC with regard to dependency and achievement were related to emerging adults’ negative out…

Childhood Maltreatment, Pathological Personality Dimensions, and Suicide Risk in Young Adults

Several studies have demonstrated that child maltreatment (psychological, physical, and sexual abuse, and neglect) may be a significant factor in the development of pathological personality traits that increase the risk for suicidal ideation and behavior from adolescence to adulthood. Currently, the challenge is to understand how different forms of early negative experiences render an individual prone to develop specific personality traits and, in turn, be more vulnerable to suicide risk. To understand the relationship between childhood maltreatment and personality dimensions in suicide risk, our study aims to explore the role of self-criticism and dependency, two different pathological per…

The development of ingroup favouritism and outgroup derogatiom towards national groups amongst italian children

National collective identity in transitional societies: Salience and relations to life satisfaction for youth in South Africa, Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Kosovo and Romania

In this study we investigated the salience of the construct of national collective identity and its associations with life satisfaction among adolescents living in transitional societies characterised by relevant change in the last decades. Participants were 1 066 adolescents (M = 15.35 years, SD = 1.35) from South Africa (n = 186) and five Central Eastern European countries, including Albania (n = 209), Bulgaria (n = 146), Czech Republic (n = 306), Kosovo (n = 116), and Romania (n = 103). They completed a questionnaire including national identity and life satisfaction scales. Data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group structural equation modeling. Results showed …

The European identity in adolescence. Interactions between the European, Mediterranean, national, regional and local identities among adolescents living in Sicily.

Acculturation Profiles and Perceived Discrimination: Associations with Psychosocial Well-being Among Tunisian Adolescents in Italy

Research usually analyzed the relationships between acculturation or perceived discrimination and immigrants’ well-being, but few studies used an integrative perspective. Framed from a person-oriented approach, the current paper tried to advance the literature examining how acculturation profiles and perceived (group and personal) discrimination were associated with psychosocial well-being in a sample of 348 Tunisian adolescents (females = 48.28%; mean age = 15.72) living in southern Italy. Cluster analytic methods on the scores of acculturation strategies, ethnic and national identities, ethnic and national languages, ethnic and national peer social contacts produced three acculturation pr…

Aligning personal and collective interests in emerging adults during the COVID-19 emergency in Italy

This study investigated the relations of emerging adults' personal (civic competence and interdependent self-construal) and community-based (sense of community and civic engagement) resources as predictors of appraisal of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) and attitudes toward preventing contagion in Italy. Participants were 2873 Italian emerging adults (71% females) aged 19-30 years (M = 22.67, SD = 2.82). Structural equation modeling revealed both direct and indirect positive associations among study variables. Civic competence and interdependent self-construal were related to sense of community and civic engagement behavior which, in turn, predicted appraisal of PHEM. App…

How shall we all live together?: Meta‐analytical review of the mutual intercultural relations in plural societies project

Living together in culturally plural societies poses numerous challenges for members of ethnocultural groups and for the larger society. An important goal of these societies is to achieve positive intercultural relations among all their peoples. Successful management of these relations depends on many factors including a research-based understanding of the historical, political, economic, religious and psychological features of the groups that are in contact. The core question is ‘how we shall we all live together?’ In the project reported in this paper (Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies; MIRIPS), we seek to provide such research by reviewing three core psychological hypoth…

Roma Youth

This chapter highlights the importance of integrating research on positive youth development processes in the most disadvantaged youth groups. The authors focused on Roma youth, representing a prototypical low-status minority group. The first part of the chapter examines the demographics and the socially, politically, and ideologically challenging contexts in which Roma young people are embedded, taking into account the case of Italy, one European country with high anti-Roma sentiments. The second part summarizes the literature that deals with social-psychological factors underlying the developmental functioning and optimal well-being of Roma youth in spite of adversity. The third part focu…

Relationships Between Career Indecision, Search for Work Self-Efficacy, and Psychological Well-Being in Italian Never-Employed Young Adults.

Although different studies have investigated career choices as cognitive acts of decision-making, non-cognitive components also play an important role. The study tries to develop an empirically based model of career decision-making process linking cognitive (search for work self-efficacy - SWSE) and non-cognitive (psychological well-being - PWB) components. In particular, the study investigates, among 148 never-employed Italian young adults, to what extent the relationship between SWSE and career indecision in terms of lack of readiness (LoR) can be explained by their common relationship with PWB. Results highlighted that SWSE is negatively associated with LoR when considered in absence of …

The Peer Observation: “Mentore” Project at University of Palermo

During the last 6 years at the University of Palermo, a group of academics has been involved in a project called “MENTORE” (“Modifying and ENhancing Teaching through peer Observation and Reflections with Experts.”) The objectives of the project are to help teachers improve their teaching, through the help of two mentors; to experiment new approaches in pilot courses to extend, if useful, to other ones; and to change the traditional model of academic teaching based on one single teacher with the class to go toward a model where there is a group of teachers working together in search of improvements. All the participants of the MENTORE project attend to lectures/workshops on teaching and lear…

Using Focus Group in the Development of UNIPA Emotional Autonomy Inventory

Adolescents' Emotional Autonomy from Parents A relevant tenet in developmental psychology is that adolescents are expected to achieve an autonomous functioning, independent from parents, to become reliant on their internal resources and responsible for their actions and decisions. Within this framework, emotional autonomy reflects the affective side of the largest process by which a young person acquires a more mature identity. It emerges when adolescents are capable to abandon dependence on parents and to individuate from them. Moreover, emotional autonomy implies a shift towards a less idealized conception of parental figures, the development of a more complex consideration of them as peo…

The development of children's identification with their own national, supranational, local and regional groups: A cross-cultural comparison in Italian and Ukrainian children and adolescents.

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure – Revised (MEIM-R): Psychometric evaluation with adolescents from diverse ethnocultural groups in Italy

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure – Revised (MEIM-R) is an extensively used questionnaire assessing ethnic identity. However, studies on its measurement characteristics in the European context are lacking. The current study addressed this gap by investigating the MEIM-R psychometric proprieties across multiple ethnocultural groups in Italy. Participants were 1445 adolescents (13–18 years) of Italian, East European, and North African origin. Results showed that the MEIM-R has good internal consistency. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses revealed configural and metric invariance, i.e., an equal, correlated two-factor structure (ethnic identity exploration and commitment) and equal f…

Stili di apprendimento, metodo di studio e successo accademico

Introduzione Le riforme che nell’ultimo decennio hanno interessato l’assetto formativo degli Atenei italiani hanno messo in luce la necessità di pensare a percorsi integrati e continui nel passaggio fra scuola media superiore e università. Per raggiungere questo obiettivo, appare utile quindi esplorare alcune dimensioni cruciali per garantire il successo formativo ed evitare il rischio di abbandoni. Obiettivi Scopo del presente studio è stato quello di valutare come gruppi di studenti con caratteristiche socio-demografiche e percorsi d’istruzione differenti possano distinguersi in relazione allo stile di apprendimento, alla percezione della propria motivazione e del metodo di studio utilizz…

Spirituality and Ethnocultural Empathy Among Italian Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Religious Identity Formation Processes

The current study examined the unique and combined roles of spirituality and religious identity formation processes on ethnocultural empathy among Italian youth. Spirituality was conceptualized as a desire for self-transcendence. Ethnocultural empathy entails concern for those of other cultural backgrounds. It was hypothesized that spirituality would predict ethnocultural empathy indirectly by way of religious identity commitment and in-depth exploration. Religious identity commitment is the extent to which people have invested in a particular religious worldview and community, whereas religious identity in-depth exploration is the degree to which they are actively seeking to learn more abo…

Autonomia e connessione in adulti emergenti italiani e statunitensi: relazioni con pratiche genitoriali e adattamento psicosociale

Training citizenship and intercultural education in Europe: an introduction to the Tra.C.I.E. project.

The Contribution of Religiosity and Optimism on Well-Being of Youth and Emerging Adults in Italy

In line with Positive Youth Development (PYD) framework positing that religion can provide youth with resources to thrive, this chapter presents a contribution analyzing the associations between religiosity and well-being among middle and late adolescents, and emerging adults in Italy. In fact, this country is a relevant context for studying this topic, considering the social and historical presence of Catholicism. We conceptualized religiosity as religious commitment and well-being as life satisfaction. Then, we focused on the mediating role of optimism between these two constructs and investigated differences among age groups concerning those associations. A multiple-group path analysis r…

Tra.C.I.E. project: Training Citizenship and Intercultural Education in Europe

The paper is a report about the project “Training Citizenship and Intercultural Education: methods and resources for adult learning (Tra.C.I.E.)”, that is funded by EC (LLP – Grundtvig, Multilateral projects). It involves organizations of 5 European countries (Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal, Romania, and Spain) and it is aimed at developing a set of curricula for the training of the educators in the field of Intercultural and Citizenship Education. During the first stages of the project, an analysis of the main needs of the target groups in the countries of the consortium was performed. At the same time, through the exchange of best practices a set of training resources was selected. Then, on th…

Manual Tra.C.I.E - Formarea în domeniul educaŃiei interculturale si pentru cetăŃenie activă în Europa

Main needs and best practices in citizenship and intercultural education in Europe