Alessia Cadamuro

Sharing distress increases helping and contact intentions via social identification and inclusion of the other in the self: Children’s prosocial behaviour after an earthquake

We surveyed young children (N = 517) affected by two major earthquakes to shed light on the role of identity processes in relation to the common observation that disasters can bring survivors closer together and enhance helping amongst them. As expected, posttraumatic stress symptoms caused by the earthquake were positively associated with intentions to have contact with and help other survivors of the earthquake, these effects being sequentially mediated by inclusion of the other in the self and by one-group representation. These findings extend previous research on both the antecedents and the behavioural effects of identity-fusion. The results are also the first quantitative test of a social identity account of collective resilience in children. We argue that these findings have practical as well as theoretical significance, as they demonstrate the adaptive function of group processes in informal responses to disasters.

Out-group threats and distress as antecedents of common in-group identity among majority and minority group members in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

The aim of the present study was to examine the role of out-group threats in fostering one-group perceptions directly and indirectly via post-traumatic stress symptoms in the aftermath of a natural disaster. We also tested whether these relationships differ depending on the ethnic group of belonging (majority vs. minority). Participants were 589 Italians and 122 immigrants from a region strongly affected by the earthquakes that struck Northern Italy in 2012. Results revealed that among Italians threat stemming from negative out-group behaviour was associated positively with post-traumatic stress symptoms and negatively with perceptions of being a common group with immigrant survivors. Among immigrants, threat posed by the out-group for economic resources was positively associated with post-traumatic stress symptoms and, indirectly, with higher one-group perceptions.

In the Aftermath of Natural Disasters: Fostering Helping Towards Outgroup Victims

After a natural disaster, solidarity and helping behaviours among survivors are crucial for alleviating the adverse consequences of this event (Kaniasty and Norris. Bioterrorism: Psychological and public health interventions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 200–229, 2004). However, fostering mutual helping may turn out to be problematic in most of the today’s affected communities, given their increasingly multi-ethnic nature. Indeed, prejudice and intergroup biases may constitute serious obstacles to the willingness to help outgroup members. Yet, while a substantial body of literature has examined the intergroup processes affecting helping in bystander groups (see e.g., Zagefka, Noor, Brown, Hopthrow, & de Moura, Asian Journal of Social Psychology 15:221–230, 2012), only recently has social psychological research explored these processes within ethnic groups actually involved in the disaster. In the present chapter, we review research that focused on the conditions and the processes shaping intergroup helping in victimised ethnic groups. In presenting this research, we focus on the interplay between individual reactions to the disaster and group variables in determining the willingness to help outgroup members. Further, we stress the importance of adopting a multi-ethnic perspective because the processes of the majorities and minorities that drive intergroup helping are often radically different. Particular attention is devoted to the mechanisms triggering children’s intergroup helping, as they appear to be different from those driving helping responses among adults. We conclude by identifying effective strategies that would potentially make the salience of a natural disaster an unexpected opportunity to promote helping outgroup members and, ultimately, to improve intergroup relations and facilitate the recovery among individuals of affected communities.

Secondary transfer effect among children: The role of social dominance orientation and outgroup attitudes

Research has provided evidence that the effects of intergroup contact on prejudice reduction are not limited to the outgroup one has contact with (primary outgroup). Rather, they extend to secondary outgroups uninvolved in the contact situation (secondary transfer effect; Pettigrew, 2009, Social Psychology, 40, 55). We aimed to provide the first empirical evidence for the emergence of the secondary transfer effect among children. Majority (Italian) and minority (with an immigrant background) elementary schoolchildren were administered a questionnaire including measures of contact with the primary outgroup (minority children for the majority, majority children for the minority), prejudice towards the primary outgroup and towards a dissimilar secondary outgroup (disabled children), and social dominance orientation. Results revealed that among the majority group, contact with the primary outgroup had indirect associations with reduced prejudice towards the secondary outgroup. Specifically, we found evidence for sequential mediation by social dominance orientation and prejudice towards the primary outgroup. No secondary transfer effects emerged among minority group members. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of the findings, arguing for the importance of identifying the core processes driving the secondary transfer effect.

Vicarious, extended and imagined intergroup contact: A review of interventions based on indirect contact strategies applied in educational settings

Although research has shown that interventions within educational contexts based on direct, face-to-face contact are effective in reducing prejudice, they may be difficult to implement. Recent research has demonstrated that also indirect contact is a useful strategy to improve intergroup relations. In the present work, we focus on three forms of indirect contact which have received consistent attention by social psychologists in recent years: vicarious contact, extended contact, imagined contact. The interventions reviewed support indirect contact strategies as effective and flexible means of reducing prejudice within schools. In the final part of the article, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our literature review and provide some suggestions for future research.

Processi di autovalutazione in età evolutiva: aspetti metacognitivi e stili attributivi

Lo scopo di questa ricerca e lo studio della capacita di autovalutazione di 271 alunni della scuola primaria e secondaria ai quali sono state proposte due prove di ragionamento aritmetico e formale. Ai soggetti veniva richiesto di stimare il numero di risposte esatte che ritenevano di avere dato e successivamente di confrontare la propria prestazione con quella di soggetti a loro simili. I risultati dimostrano che per tutti i soggetti e in tutte le prove tra i punteggi reali e gli indici dell’autovalutazione vi e una relazione negativa e significativa. L’analisi dei giudizi comparativi conferma i risultati ottenuti da Kruger e Dunning (1999): i soggetti meno abili tendono a sovrastimare significativamente la loro prestazione mentre i soggetti piu abili tendono a sottostimarla. La prima tendenza e presente in tutte le fasce di eta ma la seconda emerge in misura significativa in seconda media. Questi risultati possono essere interpretati come la verifica che l’accuratezza della valutazione comparativa dipende da molte variabili, alcune di natura cognitiva e metacognitiva, altre riferibili all’autorappresentazione. Per questo motivo questi bias nell’autovalutazione sono stati riportati anche alla prospettiva dello stile attribuzionale causale (fattori interni vs esterni; controllabili vs non controllabili). In conclusione i processi cognitivi e metacognitivi vanno ricondotti anche alle dinamiche dell’autorappresentazione soggettiva ed ai bisogni della salvaguardia dell’immagine di se.

Grandparents and new communication’s technologies

In this study, we test a theoretical model that applies insights of socio-emotional selectivity theory 562 Thursday 24th July 2008 (Carstensen, 1995) and the achievement goal approach (Dweck, 1986) to work motivation and behavior of older workers. As known from life-span psychology, both the tendency toward affiliation and avoidance goals increase with age. We expect older workers to have a tendency to adopt mastery-avoidance instead of mastery-approach goals, and will present data from N = 172 post-retired workers (aged 61 to 79) who voluntarily continue to work to illustrate relations between time perspective, work goals, and outcomes such as work engagement and job performance.The objective was to study elements forming students’ professional identity and experience ofdental education. Focus was on how students cope with conflicting demands and the interaction between a ...