Use of the computer and Internet among Italian families: first national study.

Although home Internet access has continued to increase, little is known about actual usage patterns in homes. This nationally representative study of over 4,700 Italian households with children measured computer and Internet use of each family member across 3 months. Data on actual computer and Internet usage were collected by Nielsen//NetRatings service and provide national baseline information on several variables for several age groups separately, including children, adolescents, and adult men and women. National averages are shown for the average amount of time spent using computers and on the Web, the percentage of each age group online, and the types of Web sites viewed. Overall, about one-third of children ages 2 to 11, three-fourths of adolescents and adult women, and over four-fifths of adult men access the Internet each month. Children spend an average of 22 hours/month on the computer, with a jump to 87 hours/month for adolescents. Adult women spend less time (about 60 hours/month), and adult men spend more (over 100). The types of Web sites visited are reported, including the top five for each age group. In general, search engines and Web portals are the top sites visited, regardless of age group. These data provide a baseline for comparisons across time and cultures.     

Major life events and major chronic difficulties are differentially associated with history of major depressive episodes

Major life events have been found to precede onsets of a 1st lifetime episode of depression more commonly than subsequent recurrences. Despite general empirical support for this finding, few data directly address how the role of major life events may change over successive recurrences. Further, little research has examined major chronic difficulties in relation to a 1st lifetime episode versus a recurrence of depression. The present study tested the associations between major life events and major difficulties in relation to lifetime history of depressive episodes in a sample of 96 individuals diagnosed with major depression. Using investigator-based measures of life stress, the authors found that, whereas major life events were associated with fewer lifetime episodes, major chronic difficulties were related to more prior episodes. These findings are discussed in terms of underlying mechanisms that may account for the changing role of major life stress over successive recurrences of depression.     

Contexts and experimentalism in the psychology of Gabriele Buccola (1875-1885)

Gabriele Buccola, since his untimely death, often has been mentioned as the first Italian psychologist who developed a strict program of laboratory research. Buccola, a Sicilian of Albanian ancestry, is a "case" in the history of Italian psychology. A self-taught positivist, he established a relation with the major representatives of the European positivism. Kraepelin mentions him as one of the precursors of his project of applying experimental psychology to psychopathology. Buccola actually carried out research on the psychological, chemical-biological, and psychopathological "modifiers" of reaction times, following an experimental program dealing mainly with the differential study both of basic and superior psychological processes, with mental hygiene ends. Historians of psychology agree in considering Buccola the first Italian laboratory psychologist to plan a program of research that was close to European psychological experimentalism.The present article, starting from an outline of Buccola's role in the rising Italian scientific psychology, recontextualizes his experimentalism in an international sphere. This operation, which is carried out through a careful survey of Buccola's entire production-both theoretical and more properly scientific-is based on the search of the Darwinian, Spencerian, and Haeckelian evolutionist themes emerging from Buccola's program of research-a program that was influenced by the variegated European experimental panorama and characterized by the vision of science as a knowledge capable of transforming the nature of man and of society.     

Why do you fear the bogeyman? An embodied predictive coding model of perceptual inference

Why are we scared by nonperceptual entities such as the bogeyman, and why does the bogeyman only visit us during the night? Why does hearing a window squeaking in the night suggest to us the unlikely idea of a thief or a killer? And why is this more likely to happen after watching a horror movie? To answer these and similar questions, we need to put mind and body together again and consider the embodied nature of perceptual and cognitive inference. Predictive coding provides a general framework for perceptual inference; I propose to extend it by including interoceptive and bodily information. The resulting embodied predictive coding inference permits one to compare alternative hypotheses (e.g., is the sound I hear generated by a thief or the wind?) using the same inferential scheme as in predictive coding, but using both sensory and interoceptive information as evidence, rather than just considering sensory events. If you hear a window squeaking in the night after watching a horror movie, you may consider plausible a very unlikely hypothesis (e.g., a thief, or even the bogeyman) because it explains both what you sense (e.g., the window squeaking in the night) and how you feel (e.g., your high heart rate). The good news is that the inference that I propose is fully rational and gives minds and bodies equal dignity. The bad news is that it also gives an embodiment to the bogeyman, and a reason to fear it.     

Transition to Adulthood Across Italy: A Comparison Between Northern and Southern Italian Young Adults

We explored the phenomenon of the transition to adulthood, focusing on how young people cope with various developmental tasks in relation to their expectations, future projects, fears and indecision in two Italian regional areas characterized by different trends in youth employability, higher educational attainment and family formation process. We measured self-perceived adulthood, self-reported satisfaction, independence, perceived support regarding personal relationships and practical and economical issues, personal projections and future life’s choices. We also explored the perception of self-fulfillment for the future concerning personal goals in life, such as in the spheres of work, studies and economic autonomy together with expectations for the quality of personal relationships. One hundred and sixty nonworking university students (M _age = 22.6; SD = 2.77; range = 19–35) from the Universities of Turin and Palermo took part in this study. Sub-groups differed on self-perceived adulthood, self-reported satisfaction, independence, perceived support and self-fulfillment. Psychological and economic independence from the family of origin was most perceived by the participants from Turin who reported a higher degree of satisfaction regarding their choice of studies and their future perspective of self-fulfillment at work. Young people from Palermo highlighted personal relationships as an important source of perceived support.     

That is how we do it around here: Levels of identification,masculine honor,and social activism against organized crime in the south of Italy

Masculine honor is an important cultural code in the south of Italy. Italian criminal organizations (COs) manipulate and exploit this code to maintain legitimacy among local populations and exert social control in the territory where they operate. This research tested the hypothesis that different levels of identification—the region and the nation—would have opposite associations with male honor‐related values and, indirectly, with intentions to oppose COs collectively. Results from a sample of young southern Italians (N = 170) showed that regional identification positively predicted endorsement of male honor‐related values, which in turn were associated with lowered intentions to oppose COs. In contrast, national identification negatively predicted male honor‐related values, associated in turn with stronger intentions to oppose COs. These results also held when perceived risk and social dominance orientation were taken into account. Directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Men of Honor Don't Talk: The Relationship Between Masculine Honor and Social Activism Against Criminal Organizations in Italy

Criminal organizations have a strong influence on social, political, and economic life in Italy and other parts of the world. Nonetheless, local populations display collective passivity against organized crime, a phenomenon known as omertà. Omertà is linked to the concepts of honor and masculinity. That is, in order to fit ideological constructions of manliness, individuals should display indifference toward illegal activities and should not collaborate with legal institutions. In two studies, we investigated the link between endorsement of a masculine honor ideology and collective action intentions against criminal organizations (antimafia). Study 1 (N = 121) involved a Northern Italian sample, and Study 2 (N = 301) involved a Southern Italian sample. Across studies, results showed that endorsement of masculine honor ideology was associated with lower willingness to engage in social activism against criminal organizations. This relationship was mediated by attitudes toward criminal organizations (Study 1 and 2) and, in line with the notion of omertà, by lower levels of collective motive and more anxiety about interacting with police (Study 2). Directions for future research are discussed.