Elena Marta

Social Action in Young Adults: Voluntary and Political Engagement.

The present study examines the antecedents of social action (Snyder & Omoto, 2007), understood as voluntary action and political action, by operationalizing Penners constructs (2004). We affirm the essential homogeneity between these two forms of social action and their antecedents. The study has a twofold aim: 1) testing the identified antecedents on the volunteer participants by means of discriminant analysis, and 2) testing the same variables on youth engaged in politics. Participants were 706 young people - engaged and not engaged - distributed throughout Italy - aged 19-29 (M=22.36, SD=1.10). The instrument used was a self-report questionnaire. The findings reveal that several variables discriminate between engaged and not engaged youth. They also show the presence of several areas of overlap between variables considered in the engaged groups (political and voluntary action).

Psychosocial Adjustment and Family Relationships: A Typology of Italian Families with a Late Adolescent

The importance of family relationships in human development and adjustment has always been recognized in psychological studies. The present study aims to construct a typology of families with a late adolescent and to analyze the family relationships present in each type. The typology, constructed using family satisfaction—a global index of family functioning—as the discriminate variable, took into account eight types. This study is focused on the two extreme types of the typology: “Families with adequate functioning or satisfied families” and “Families with inadequate functioning or dissatisfied families.” These two types of families were compared according to variables such as: (a) parent-child communication and its topics and (b) the familys decision-making process on topics related to the adolescent and his/her future orientation. All subjects completed a questionnaire composed of different scales. The results show substantial differences in the two family types regarding both family functioning and the role played by mothers and fathers. Satisfied families give evidence of a better communication process than the dissatisfied ones, greater sharing between parents and adolescents and, finally, a decision-making process based mostly on sharing and support. Moreover, in satisfied families the father has the role of social mediator. In this way, he succeeds in part in restoring equilibrium to the relational imbalance in favor of mothers so typical of Italian families.

Volunteers and Ex-Volunteers: Paths to Civic Engagement Through Volunteerism

El estudio descrito es parte de un proyecto de investigacion longitudinal y multi-metodologico mas amplio sobre el voluntariado juvenil, realizado con el proposito de entender las razones que tuvieron los jovenes para elegir el voluntariado y, especificamente, las razones para mantener o abandonar el compromiso, asi como los efectos de dicho voluntariado. Participaron en entrevistas en profundidad 18 voluntarios y 18 ex-voluntarios, 50% hombres y 50% mujeres, entre 22 y 29 anos de edad, de 2 regiones del norte de Italia (Lombardia y Emilia Romagna). El analisis de la entrevista de lapiz y papel permitio trazar varias categorias centrales: las motivaciones al voluntariado, las relaciones dentro de la organizacion, la influencia de la familia y los efectos del propio voluntariado, especialmente en relacion con el proceso de construccion de identidad y ciudadania. A partir de estas categorias fueron identificadas 4 tipologias: 2 respecto de los voluntarios (voluntarios productores de ciudadania activa y voluntarios por necesidad personal) y 2 respecto de los ex voluntarios (ex voluntarios testigos de solidaridad y ciudadania activa y ex voluntarios por azar).

Overall and unique similarities between parents’ values and adolescent or emerging adult children’s values

The transmission of values between generations has gained more and more research interest over the last few years. One important outcome of the process of value transmission is the degree of similarity between parents and their children, that may vary across childs developmental stages. This study aimed to estimate the cultural stereotype effect on parent-child value similarity in adolescence and in emerging adulthood. Participants were 423 Italian fathers, mothers, and their adolescent (56.7%) or emerging adult (43.3%) children, who were asked to fill out the Portrait Values Questionnaire. Parent-child value similarity was small in size among families with adolescents, and significantly higher among families with emerging adults. Nevertheless, after removing stereotype effects, this difference disappeared, suggesting that the higher parent-emerging adult value similarity was to a great extent socially derived. Implications of this finding were discussed.

Identity and the Theory of Planned Behavior: Predicting Maintenance of Volunteering After Three Years

ABSTRACT Is identity an important predictor of social behavior? The present longitudinal study is focused on identity in order to understand why people continue to volunteer over an extended period of time. The theory of planned behavior and the role identity model of volunteering are used as theoretical framework. Two hundred thirty Italian volunteers were sampled and followed for 3 years. We analyzed functions of role identity as a volunteer. Results showed a significant impact of role identity in predicting volunteer performance after 3 years, mediated through behavioral intentions. Role identity fully mediated the relationships between behavioral intention and attitude, social norms, past behavior and parental modelling.

Commitment or Disaffection? Framing the Forms, Meanings, and Predictors of Youth Civic Engagement in Italy

The relevance of civic engagement for youth was outlined, as far back as 1951, by Havighurst who ‘‘listed civic competence and socially responsible behavior among the ten developmental tasks of adolescence’’ (Flanagan & Gallay, 1995, p. 34). Subsequently, Erikson (1982) outlined that the development of community awareness is relevant for personal development as part of the process that results in a broader identity formation. Even if many years have passed since the relevance of youth civic engagement was first posited, many questions related to this topic are still current: How and why do youth and young adults become engaged in and responsible for the future of their societies? Which factors, pertaining to the individuals and the contexts where they live (family, peer, school, and communities), promote youth civic engagement? Which strategies and programs could be implemented to effectively enhance youth civic engagement? This themed issue of the Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community aims to address these questions with regard to the civic engagement of Italian youth and young adults. By civic engagement in general we mean all the behaviors and attitudes of individuals that take into account the community in which one lives and promote benefits for the community as a whole. We have chosen this theme

Young Adults and Civic Behavior: The Psychosocial Variables Determining It

The present work has a two-fold aim: (a) to verify the difference in civic behavior enacted by socially engaged young people in a lasting and structured form, sealed by membership in an organization, on the one hand, and in non-engaged young people, on the other hand; (b) to identify a pattern of characteristics (personal, social, and familial) able to explain civic behavior. Participants, 577 young adults from ages 19 to 29, filled out a self-report questionnaire. The results of the t test for independent samples confirm the presence of the difference between means of scores on the civic behavior. Moreover, data confirm a model in which civic behavior is predicted by personal identity, engagement values, family discussion of current events, the quality of previous membership experiences in socially oriented groups (membership), and finally, in a mediator position, by sense of community. The present study has many implications for researchers and practitioners.

Young Italian NEETs (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) and the Influence of Their Family Background.

This work investigates the relationship between family variables (parents’ educational level, relationship quality, intrusiveness, support, and autonomy) and young Italians’ status as NEETs (Not in Employment, Education, or Training). We used data from a representative sample of 9,087 young Italians. Each participant filled out an anonymous online questionnaire that contained several scales to measure the variables mentioned above. The results reveal that parents’ educational level and support have a protective effect on the risk of becoming a NEET for both genders. Autonomy has a specific negative impact for males while intrusiveness has a positive impact mainly for females.

Effects of the community engagement of migrants on their well-being: The case of Moroccan leaders in southern Spain

ABSTRACT Community engagement of migrants has been identified as an important element in developing both individual well-being and cohesive multicultural receiving communities. Through 10 in-depth interviews, this study explores the profile of Moroccan migrant leaders in community organizations in the receiving context (south of Spain) and the reasons for which they engage. Moreover, it analyzes the relationship established between community engagement and their well-being. The results show that migrants commit for both intrinsic (e.g., support their compatriots) and extrinsic (e.g., increase their social connection) reasons. Their social action has a positive influence on their well-being because it activates the following paths: (1) improvement of bicultural competences; (2) development of social relationships with receiving members; (3) strengthening of social bonds with compatriots; (4) increase of abilities in dealing with unjust social conditions in the new environment; and (5) decrease of prejudice towards their own cultural group.

When Living and Working Well Together in Organizations Changes Into Good Social Coexistence: The Talent Club Case

In our contemporary age, where a combination of individualism and mutual distrust is unhappily common among people and society is “liquid” and disoriented, so-called intermediate units (groups, associations) are a precious resource that promotes positive coexistence within organizations and in local communities, too. The present contribution describes an example of such an intermediate unit, the Talent Club, located in a peripheral neighborhood of a metropolitan area in northern Italy. This case study shows the development of positive living and working together in organizations and their transformation in the tool for community development and good coexistence. Qualitative and quantitative data show that the relational aspect is crucial because it promotes authentic exchange among people, supporting participation and social cohesion against self-referential habits and isolation. Although at present the Talent Club is mostly functioning in a affiliating coexistence among members, seeds of a more generative coexistence are clearly detectable.