Marco Boffi

6 Positive Change in Environment: Aesthetics, Environmental Flowability and Well-Being

Environmental Psychology states that restoration and environmental preference could be explained by referring to our evolutionary past, or taking into account some of the universal features of the place. This contribution shows an alternative point of view, focusing on the concepts of flow. This chapter focuses on a new framework aiming to establish a link between optimal experiences, psychological well-being and aesthetic judgments, introducing the idea of Flow- ability as a subjective criterion to evaluate a place and consider it as potentially regenerative.

Politicians as cultural selectors: Favouring or discouraging youth participation

An evolutionary perspective can be applied to the analysis of cultural phenomena to describe how inheritance mechanisms can account for the development of cultural traits in a given environment. This paper aims to describe the psychosocial functioning of the political system from this perspective, focusing on the role of politicians as cultural selectors. As they are in charge of legislation, politicians have a key role in steering the evolution of cultural norms. In particular they play a leading part in determining access to traditional forms of participation, such as parties. We interviewed a panel of political experts to explore the selective mechanisms shaping the Italian political system. The results show that co-option is the main method of selecting new members for parties, with the aim of keeping power within well-established structures. The specific features of the Italian political environment explain its decreasing ability to attract young activists.

Measuring Dispositional Flow: Validity and reliability of the Dispositional Flow State Scale 2, Italian version

Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2), for use with Italian adults, young adults and adolescents. Method In accordance with the guidelines for test adaptation, the scale has been translated with the method of back translation. The understanding of the item has been checked according to the latest standards on the culturally sensitive translation. The scale thus produced was administered to 843 individuals (of which 60.69% female), between the ages of 15 and 74. The sample is balanced between workers and students. The main activities defined by the subjects allow the sample to be divided into three categories: students, workers, athletes (professionals and semi-professionals). Results The confirmatory factor analysis, conducted using the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLM), showed acceptable fit indexes. Reliability and validity have been verified, and structural invariance has been verified on 6 categories of Flow experience and for 3 subsamples with different with different fields of action. Correlational analysis shows significant high values between the nine dimensions. Conclusions Our data confirmed the validity and reliability of the Italian DFS-2 in measuring Flow experiences. The scale is reliable for use with Italian adults, young adults and adolescents. The Italian version of the scale is suitable for the evaluation of the subjective tendency to experience Flow trait characteristic in different contest, as sport, study and work.

To Be There, Or Not To Be. Designing Subjective Urban Experiences

This chapter proposes innovative paths of interaction between design sciences and psychology, highlighting man-environment transaction models that could be integrated into design practices through the aid of urban simulation techniques. In particular, it is argued that designers mainly base their activity on implicit models coming from the behaviorist and cognitive psychological tradition, criticized as inadequate to richly depict people experience in environment, as they neglect its complexity, immersivity and eminently social nature. A psychological approach based on the central role of subjective experience is advanced, focusing on optimal experiences and their heuristic potential for design sciences. Some useful tools for an anticipated assessment of spatial design projects through urban simulation are presented. It is also underlined the relevance of urban simulation for the general public, as it is often involved in processes of urban renewal that are strictly connected with the social debate in the contemporary city. The need for an interdisciplinary approach is stressed, proposing to conceive the simulations as urban cultural artifacts able to promote social engagement and community well-being.

Social psychology of flow: a situated framework for optimal experience

Flow research is traditionally focused on subjective experience and well-being, with less concern for the impact of these aspects on the broader social context. This chapter, introducing a situated framework of research, assigns instead a central role to flow in generating social change. We highlight how social and physical environments are continuously modeled through optimal experience and its social dissemination. Whilst some models drive their attention to flow in groups as a facilitator of performance, our approach focuses on the study of the link between flow and socio-cultural experience. This link between the person and the external context regards both the intrapsychic relationship that individuals build with cultural artifacts and the influence of affective relations and participation in groups. This perspective is supported through new research data from three different areas of study.

Experiential Simulation and Environmental Psychology for Anticipating Users’ Reactions to Design Projects: An Application in Architectural Higher Education

The contribution presents an interdisciplinary approach to education developed by the authors, who belong to the field of study of urban design and environmental psychology. The presented study is part of a wider research aiming at developing a methodology for assessing, before construction, the impact on people’s well-being generated by urban design projects. The method is based on the combined use of immersive visualization and psychological survey, administered to inhabitants along the design process, for testing and potentially re-tuning-the architectural solutions. In particular, the paper presents a case study application with a university class of architects and planners of the last year of the Master of Science. The paper outlines the general contents of the ongoing experimental research, it provides a brief theoretical framework, it describes the tools used and developed ad hoc, and it finally illustrates the case study application.

7 Positive Change and Political Participation: Well-Being as an Indicator of the Quality of Citizens’ Engagement

Political participation has long been considered as a source of benefits for the community. Its role in the evolution of society has been assessed through diverse social indicators, from which well-being has been assigned a central position. In this chapter we look at the historical progress of such indicators, highlighting the contribution of psychology. We suggest that a eudaimonic perspective can explain the link between individuals’ well-being and participation. In particular flow can be used as referential theory to describe mechanisms affecting both personal growth and social context, resulting in an inspiring notion to design participative settings.