Search

Likely, the after-pandemic world won’t be as it used. To properly imagine and build our future, we should forget the progressive growth of past times and even the concept of “normality” of pre-pandemic years is going to change inasmuch as a new social concept is coming true ("surprise free" scenarios are no longer contemplated). The disposition of Italians towards their future was surveyed with three indicators: 1) the depression rate as measured with PHQ9, a standard psychological test for clinical depression measurement; 2) the pro-activeness orientation, as measured with an 8-item psychological test; and 3) the clearness rate of own future vision, as measured with a focused, dichotomous question. The indicators have been measured through a convenience sample on Italian adults during the second half of 2021. The analysis showed that the fear of contagion and the never-ending emergency due to Covid-19 pandemic caused such a psychological awkwardness to repress the disposition of Italians towards their possible futures. The repression was harder on youngsters, living alone persons, disrupted families, and people with psychic and/or depressive symptoms. A regressive model was furtherly fit on the collected sample. It showed multiple determinants of the future repression, say, that the fear of contagion was more relevant than the contagion itself and the uncertainty about the pandemic end was as disheartening as the contagion risk for the yearning hope of a positive after-pandemic lifestyle.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, remote working (RW) has been a way to producing despite limiting contacts. In Italy, about a half of the workers experienced, at least for a part of their working time, RW during the years 2020 and 2021. In this paper we analyse the data collected through a web-based survey conducted in the second half of 2021 at a convenience sample of Italian adults. The survey was aimed at highlighting how Italians experienced the pandemic and how they perceived their future. Also, we measured the frequency and the intensity of the RW phenomenon, the feelings of those who practiced and the opinion of workers about the possibility to practice it in the future. The data show that so many adults practiced RW during the pandemic. Their judgement of the experience is largely positive: 60.8% stated they were inclined to pursue it again as a normal work strategy. Though, there are distinctions. The type of job and the recent experience entail people’s commitment towards RW. Even what people expect from work may influence their disposition to take in RW as normal. The convolution of wells of the RW disposition, scouted through a multivariate statistical analysis, showed that, on top of the well-known suitability of RW to certain job types (white-collar, gig activities, self-employed), the workers’ propensity to RW is higher if commuting cost saving, own time optimisation and not-too-open schedules, work-family balance and a free time surplus, the possibility of interaction and socialisation with other company’s employees and customers and a secure web connection characterise their jobs.

This volume collects the contributions presented at the conference “Data-driven Decision Making” organized by the Italian Association for Applied Statistics, held in Genoa from 12 to 14 September 2022. The papers cover a broad range of topics, with a common thread: the use of statistical methods to support decision-making both in public administrations and in private companies.

In this paper we highlight the sensorial and cultural correlates of the consumption of Trebbiano wine produced in the Abruzzo region, Italy. The data have been collected through a questionnaire survey on a sample of 48 adults. The sample was conveniently selected among the participants at a scientific meeting held in Pescara in September 2018. The survey was part of a complex sensorial experiment concerning the preference of this white wine with respect to a series of other regional white wines. The collected data on Trebbiano wine consumption have been analysed through a path analytic regression model in which consumption was the criterion variable, while cultural and sensorial variables, on the one hand, and wine expertise and drinking habits, on the other, were the variables mediating the respondents’ disposition towards this type of wine. The analysis showed that two thirds of the respondents frequently or occasionally used to consume the topical wine. The frequency of consumption was strictly influenced by the relevance the respondents conferred to this wine when put in competition with other wines during an outdoor dinner. The consumers who particularly appreciated it were wine experts (sommeliers, wine course attendants, wine producers) and other wine consumers able to recognise the intrinsic characteristics of a wine thanks to the sensorial skills (for smell and aroma evaluation) they developed through long experience and specific learning.

How did individual and social aspects influence depression feelings during the pandemic? In this paper, we analyse the data collected through a survey conducted in the second half of 2021 among a convenience sample of Italian adults. The survey was aimed at highlighting how Italians experienced the pandemic and the way they perceived their future. A total of 556 Italians answered the CAWI survey. The analyses of the collected data show that, while having been infected by the virus or having had a family member infected by it did not influence the depression level, other individual characteristics and subjective feelings did. In particular, being female, younger, having had low trust in information delivered by television, no experiences of smart working or remote learning, little support from friends and family, and being unable to imagine the future increased the likelihood to feel higher levels of depression. Being able to imagine the future mediated the relationships of age and smart working or remote learning experiences with depression. The results indicate that, having a lower ability to imagine the future, younger people and individuals who did not work or study remotely have also a greater tendency to feel depressed.

Are Italian youngsters adequately equipped for an after-pandemic upswing?All over the world young people seem to be particularly dazed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, they were touched just lightly by the disease, though the isolation due to the distancing need and the remote learning mode may be the sources of depressive ailments and other psychological distresses. In this paper we analyse the data collected through a survey conducted in the second half of 2021 among a convenience sample of Italian adults. The survey was aimed at highlighting how Italians experienced the pandemic and the way they perceived their futures. About one third of the sample was below 35 and we consider them the young. Most of them were students, a few worked, some were looking for a job. The analysis of the collected data shows that so many young Italians were disturbed by the pandemic, even though the sanitary impact of the disease on them was much less relevant than other age classes. Among the youngsters, the depression and anxiety rates was significantly higher than other adults, the perception of a future role was limited to them and their potential resources for future life was also jeopardized. The possible causes of the reduction capacity among young adults was scouted through a multivariate statistical analysis. It showed that the perception of personal difficulties is correlated to a feeling of uncertainty for their future roles, to a pressure over their social-economical and personal resources to face their future and to a sort of apathy that could limit their pro-activeness.