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The present study extends previous research on the folk concept of happiness by investigating people's causal attributions toward the things that make them happy. Six hundred ten Italian adults (18-55 years old) took part in a questionnaire study. Respondents were asked to report five happiness sources and to provide ratings for both the attainment of these sources and the internal and external factors potentially causing them (self, other people, luck, chance). We also measured the participants' levels of psychological well-being. Results showed that the participants' happiness conceptions incorporated 27 categories of happiness sources referring to four semantic domains: relational life, personal life, hedonic psychological sources, and eudaimonic psychological sources. Multilevel analyses showed that internal attributions exceeded external attributions across all these domains; moreover, internal attributions positively predicted happiness attainment, whereas the latter was negatively associated with attributions to other people. Findings were interpreted in the Italian cultural and linguistic context. KEYWORDS: causal attribution, culture, folk concept, happiness, luck, There does not seem to be much doubt that happiness and luck arc two intertwined concepts, at least linguistically (Oishi. Graham, Kescbir, & Costa Galinha, 2013). To verify the reliability [...]

Background: Few studies have found long-term effects of early musical environmental enrichment in the NICU on preterm infant's development. This study examines how early music enrichment affects emotional development and effortful control abilities in 12- and 24-month-old very preterm (VPT) infants. Methods: One hundred nineteen newborns were recruited, including 83 VPTs and 36 full-term (FT) infants. The VPT infants were randomly assigned to the music intervention (44 VPT-Music) or control (39 VPT-control) groups. VPTMusic infants listened specifically designed music intervention from the 33rd week of gestation until hospital discharge. At 12 and 24 months, children were clinically evaluated using the Bayley-III Scales of Infant and Toddler Development and the Laboratory Temperament Assessment Battery, and at 24 months, with 3 additional episodes of the Effortful Control Battery. Results and discussion: Our analysis showed that during a fear eliciting task, the VPT-Music group expressed lower level of fear reactivity and higher positive motor actions than VPT-controls and FT infants. At 24 months, the VPT-music group had lower scores for negative motor actions in the joy task, compared to both VPT-control and FT groups. In addition, both FT and VPT-music had higher scores of sustained attention compared to VPT-controls, but the contrasts were not significant. No significant effects on mental, language and motor outcomes were identified and for all three dimensions of the ECBQ. Conclusion: The present study suggests that an early music intervention in the NICU might influence preterm children's emotional processing at 12 and 24 months. Limitations and suggestions for future research are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Immunisation is a global health priority, but methods of non‐pharmacological pain relief are not widely used in routine clinical practice. In this study, we set out to investigate the effects of maternal singing during the routine vaccination of infants. Methods: We recruited 67 mother–infant pairs at Health Centres in the Aosta Region of Italy. Infants aged 2–4 months were randomly allocated to a singing intervention group or to a control group whose injections were administered following standard practice. Pre‐ and post‐immunisation pain was blindly assessed using the Modified Behavioural Pain Scale, and mother–infant proximity indexes were assigned based on muted video‐tracks. Results: When assessed for pain, the infants in the maternal singing group were assigned significantly lower movement indexes (p = 0.032) and marginally significantly lower cry indexes (p = 0.076). A higher frequency of mother‐to‐infant gaze (p < 0.005) was observed in the singing group dyads. Finally, the intervention group mothers' self‐perceived ease in singing was correlated with their previous singing experience and with lower anxiety following the vaccination procedure (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Maternal singing during immunisation procedures benefits both mothers and babies. The practice of singing is a biologically rooted and adaptive form of intuitive parental communication that should be encouraged, especially in at‐risk populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In the last 20 years, gambling has become more and more widespread in Italy. The aim of the present study is to compare the motivations for gambling and the emotions felt while gambling in three different subgroups: scratch card gamblers, slot‐machine gamblers, and casino gamblers. Methods: Three versions of a questionnaire have been distributed in a casino, in scratch card vendors, and slot‐machines venues. All versions included sociodemographic variables, the two‐question Lie‐Bet instrument, a scale for motivations toward gambling, and a list of positive and negative emotions felt while gambling. Results: Participants (N = 425, F 47.5%) are gamblers potentially pathological (N = 162, 38.1%) and not (N = 263, 61.9%). Different games seem connected to different motivations and emotions: the scratch gamblers show less Coping and Social Motivation and experience less Negative Emotion. However, the motivation and emotion most intensely experienced by the gamblers (Enhancement and the Positive Emotions) do not show differences between the different types of games. Conclusion: The pathological gamblers have a more intense and internal connection with the game (have more Enhancement and Coping motives, Positive and Negative Emotion). In sum, our findings support the theoretical hypothesis that gambling can be a tool for regulating emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, museums and exhibitions have benefited from the advances in Virtual Reality technologies to create complementary virtual elements to the traditional visit. The aim is to make the collections more engaging, interactive, comprehensible and accessible. Also, the studies regarding users' and visitors' engagement suggest that the real affective state cannot be fully assessed with self-assessment techniques and that other physiological techniques, such as EEG, should be adopted to gain a more unbiased and mature understanding of their feelings. With the aim of contributing to bridging this knowledge gap, this work proposes to adopt literature EEG-based indicators (valence, arousal, engagement) to analyze the affective state of 95 visitors interacting physically or virtually (in a VR environment) with five handicraft objects belonging to the permanent collection of the Museo dell'Artigianato Valdostano di Tradizione, which is a traditional craftsmanship museum in the Valle d'Aosta region. Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) was adopted to classify the obtained engagement measures, which were labeled according to questionnaire replies. EEG analysis played a fundamental role in understanding the cognitive and emotional processes underlying immersive experiences, highlighting the potential of VR technologies in enhancing participants' cognitive engagement. The results indicate that EEG-based indicators have common trends with self-assessment, suggesting that their use as 'the ground truth of emotion' is a viable option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the impact of gender and gender role identification on anger felt while playing tennis and its consequences on performance. A total of 180 recreational tennis players (92 male, 88 female) self-reported frequency, intensity, and duration of anger they felt during tennis matches and perceived effects on performance; Staxi-2 was used to measure internal/external anger control and expression, and PAQ to measure gender role identification. Results showed no gender differences in the subjective experience of anger, whereas gender differences do emerge in its regulation strategies and expression: men express anger outwardly and women use internalization strategies and suppression. A structural equation model suggested that internally controlling anger and outwardly expressing it has positive impacts on performance, while anger intensity may worsen performance, particularly in female players. The extra energy needed to comply with the gender appropriateness of the anger expression determines a more negative impact on females' performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volunteering has beneficial effects both for individuals, as it increases wellbeing and life satisfaction, and for communities. It is relevant, however, to understand the reasons for beginning this prosocial behaviour and persisting in it. This study explores how core self-conceptions such as general self-efficacy and self-esteem may have a role as antecedents of volunteer involvement through the mediation of different motives for volunteering. Volunteers (n = 138, 69F) and non-volunteers (n = 112, 59F) from the same community, matched for gender and age, were compared on self-esteem, self-efficacy, motives, volunteer involvement, life satisfaction. A path structural model was used to investigate the hypothesized mediations. Main findings showed that self-efficacy was higher among volunteers and that women who volunteered had higher self-esteem than women who did not. Self-esteem had a negative association with the involvement of volunteers mediated by a career motive, and with future intention mediated by self-enhancement. Self-efficacy played a role in encouraging people to consider engaging in volunteering with the mediation of the values motive in non-volunteers and with the mediation of the social motive in volunteers, together with motivations linked to using one's own competences in both subsamples. Life satisfaction was positively associated with the time spent volunteering each week, but not with persistence in the service and with self-esteem. Implications may be relevant to increasing volunteer involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volunteering has beneficial effects both for individuals, as it increases wellbeing and life satisfaction, and for communities. It is relevant, however, to understand the reasons for beginning this prosocial behaviour and persisting in it. This study explores how core self-conceptions such as general self-efficacy and self-esteem may have a role as antecedents of volunteer involvement through the mediation of different motives for volunteering. Volunteers (n = 138, 69F) and non-volunteers (n = 112, 59F) from the same community, matched for gender and age, were compared on self-esteem, self-efficacy, motives, volunteer involvement, life satisfaction. A path structural model was used to investigate the hypothesized mediations. Main findings showed that self-efficacy was higher among volunteers and that women who volunteered had higher self-esteem than women who did not. Self-esteem had a negative association with the involvement of volunteers mediated by a career motive, and with future intention mediated by self-enhancement. Self-efficacy played a role in encouraging people to consider engaging in volunteering with the mediation of the values motive in non-volunteers and with the mediation of the social motive in volunteers, together with motivations linked to using one's own competences in both subsamples. Life satisfaction was positively associated with the time spent volunteering each week, but not with persistence in the service and with self-esteem. Implications may be relevant to increasing volunteer involvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Neo-liberalism has spread throughout the world in tandem with globalization. This article attempts to address the way in which neo-liberalism has operated in the Italian university system, an academic context that has its own history, values, and traditions. A brief overview of the consequences of neo-liberalism in Italy is followed by a description of the stages in the neo-liberal university reforms that have characterized the Italian academic world since the end of the 1980s. Finally, three forms of resistance that hinder the process of neo-liberalization and make it non-linear are examined in depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:One of the most problematic modes of alcohol consumption in young adults is risky drinking in single episodes, which typically takes place in social contexts. Several studies have applied the Theory of Planned Behavior to drinking intentions and behavior in young people. However, previous studies show that this model lacks a “bridge” that links a mental process like intentions to a physical process represented by the actual action.Objectives:The aim of the present study is to test the predictive power of the Model of Goal-Directed Behavior plus social influences in order to overcome theory of planned behavior gaps in predicting binge-drinking behavior in young people.Methods:404 undergraduates completed a questionnaire containing measures for the MGB variables, social identity, and group norms. Two weeks later, participants reported how many times they had had five/four or more alcoholic drinks on a single occasion. Structural equation modeling revealed strong support for model validity.Results:The final equation accounted for 66% in intentions to binge drink, and 48% in drinking behavior, while a planned behavior model accounted for the 47% of variance in intentions to binge and 37% of the drinking behavior. Social influences positively affected desire and intentions to drink.Conclusions:Our findings suggest that, compared to other attitude-behavior frameworks, the MGB is preferable in modeling the proximal determinants of binge drinking. Therefore, the distinction between desire and intention and the consideration of social influences seem to be essential to improve the prediction of binge drinking among young people. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]