The case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: a kinematic study on social intention

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of social intentions on action. Participants (N=13) were requested to reach towards, grasp an object, and either pass it to another person (social condition) or put it on a concave base (single-agent condition). Movements' kinematics was recorded using a three-dimensional motion analysis system. The results indicate that kinematics is sensitive to social intention. Movements performed for the 'social' condition were characterized by a kinematic pattern which differed from those obtained for the 'single-agent' condition. Results are discussed in terms of a motor simulation hypothesis, which assumes that the same mechanisms underlying motor intention are sensitive to social intentions.     

Uncertainties

In contemporary science uncertainty is often represented as an intrinsic feature of natural and of human phenomena. As an example we need only think of two important conceptual revolutions that occurred in physics and logic during the first half of the twentieth century: (1) the discovery of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics; (2) the emergence of many-valued logical reasoning, which gave rise to so-called ‘fuzzy thinking’. I discuss the possibility of applying the notions of uncertainty, developed in the framework of quantum mechanics, quantum information and fuzzy logics, to some problems of political and social sciences.     

Classroom justice and psychological engagement: students’ and teachers’ representations

This article presents the results of a study carried out with the aim to: (1) analyze secondary school students’ and their teachers’ ideal representations of classroom justice, (2) deepen the topic of students’ sense of injustice, and (3) explore the links between students’ perceived injustice and their psychological engagement in school, measured on different aspects (identification with one’s own class, learning motivation, dialogue with teachers). A questionnaire was distributed to 400 Italian secondary school students and their 79 teachers. Results show that the representations of ideal classroom justice refer to communication, principle of equality and principles of effort/need, and that the positions of teachers and students on these representations differ. Moreover, students report a rather diffuse and shared feeling of being treated in an unjust manner by their teachers, and this affects their psychological engagement in school. Results are commented on their theoretical, methodological and applicative implications.     

Symmetrical Heyting algebras with a finite order type of operators

The main purpose of this paper is to introduce a class of algebraic structures related to many-valued ukasiewicz algebras. They are symmetrical Heyting algebras with a set of modal operators indexed by a finite completely symmetric poset. A representation theorem is given for these (not functionally complete) algebras.     

Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence: Relationship with Personality,Prosociality and Well-Being

Appreciation of beauty and excellence (ABE) is one of the least studied character strengths. Therefore, this study aims at advancing the knowledge in this area by (1) developing a scale that measures the three categories of appreciation (i.e., beauty, moral excellence, and non-moral excellence), (2) assessing many of its psychometric properties, and (3) examining the relationship of ABE with personality, prosociality, and well-being. In Study 1, we create and assess an initial set of items measuring ABE. In Study 2, we examine the dimensionality of ABE, and test the internal consistency and validity of the scale. Moreover, we assess the relationships between ABE and personality, prosociality and well-being. In Study 3, we test the temporal stability of the scale. Results revealed that a three-dimensional model of ABE showed the best fit to the data. The scale showed good validity (construct, factorial, incremental) and reliability (internal and temporal). Finally, ABE yielded positive associations with prosociality and well-being, and demonstrated to be more than a linear combination of the Big Five factors of personality.     

Epidemics,Psycho-Actives and Evangelical Conversion among the Airo-Pai of Amazonian Peru

The examination of Airo-Pai cultural dynamics and narratives of conversion reveals the indigenous interpretation of evangelicalism within the context of land colonisation by non-indigenous Nationals, coca farming and epidemics of diseases. The rejection of drugs and alcohol required of evangelicals is perceived by the indigenous population as instrumental in eradicating substance abuse and violence arising from colonisation. At the same time, the motivation for conversion derives from culturally specific understandings of the moral causes of illness and death and the ambivalent value of psycho-active substances and shamans. Evangelicalism provides a means of conceiving the overcoming of death and asserting an ancestral paradigm of sociality encapsulated in the notion of 'living well'.