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Interpersonal trust is an important source of social and economic development. Over decades, researchers debated the question whether and how public institutions influence interpersonal trust, making this relationship a much-discussed issue for scientific debate. However, experimental and behavioral data and insights on this relationship and the underlying psychological processes are rare and often inconsistent. The present set of studies tests a model which proposes that institutional trust indirectly affects trust among unrelated strangers by enhancing individuals’ feelings of security. Study 1 (survey on trust in a broad spectrum of state institutions), Study 2 (nationally representative data from 16 countries), and Study 3 (experimental manipulation of institutional trust) provide convergent support for this hypothesis. Also, the results show that the effect remains consistent even after controlling for individual dispositions linked to interpersonal and institutional trust (Study 1 and 3) and country level indicators of institutional performance (Study 2). Taken together, these findings inform and contribute to the debate about the relationship between institutions and interpersonal trust by showing that when institutions are trusted, they increase feelings of security, and therefore promote interpersonal trust among strangers.

Our objectives were to examine the well-being scales, to compare the levels of well-being and its determinants in Italian and Serbian samples of university students, and to find the determinants of self-rated health (SRH) among students based on data from Italian and Serbian household health surveys. In the first phase, 695 Serbian and 747 Italiansubjects were handled a questionnaire regardingmultidimensional well-being(MWB) and five sections: socio-demographic characteristics, personal goal appraisals, mental health, physical activity, and life style factors.In the second, 2482 Italianand 2143 Serbianstudents aged 18-30 were extracted from 2013 national health surveys in Italy and Serbia. SRH was the dependent variable while the independent variables were divided into sociodemographics and health behaviors.The difference in MWB and SRH between Italians and Serbians is in favor of the latter or not significant. Disconfirming the results from general population surveys, when it comes to young adults, Italians are certainly not happier or healthier than Serbians. Considering the cross-cultural reliability and validity analysis, the well-being scales can be used as a valid research tool in future studies., Naši ciljevi su bili ispitivanje skale blagostanja, ispitivanje nivoa blagostanjakao i njegovih determinantimeđu studentima u Italiji i u Srbiji i ispitivanje determinantisamoprocenjenog zdravlja među studentimana osnovu podataka iz istraživanja zdravlja na uzorcima italijanskih i srpskih domaćinstava. U prvoj fazi, 695 srpskihi 747 italijanskih studenata popunili su anketu o višestrukom blagostanju i pet delova: socio-demografske karakteristike, procena ličnih ciljeva, mentalno zdravlje, fizička aktivnost i faktori životnog stila. U drugoj, 2482 studenta od 18 do 30 godina iz Italijei 2143 iz Srbije su preuzeti izNacionalne ankete o zdravlju iz 2013. godine za odraslu populaciju Italije i Srbije. Samoprocenjeno zdravlje je bilo zavisna varijabla dok nezavisne varijable su podeljene na socio-demografske karakteristike i zdravstvene navike. Razlike za višestruko blagostanje i samoprocenjeno zdravlje između Italijana i Srba bile su u korist Srba ili nisu bile značajne. Nasuprot rezultatima Nacionalne ankete u opštoj populaciji, kada je reč o mladima, Italijani sigurno nisu srećniji ili zdraviji od Srba. Uzimajući u obzir analizu kroz-kulturalne pouzdanosti i validnosti, skale blagostanja mogu da se koriste kao validni alati za buduća istraživanja.

Background. Interpersonal relationships contribute to the psychological adjustments to chronic disease, directly affecting health and, more generally, life satisfaction of patients. Those factors are often threatened by the fear of becoming target of prejudices and discrimination from those who share their daily life with. Thus, this study proposes a contribution to the Italian adaptation and validation of the Chronic Illness Anticipated Stigma Scale (CIASS), a brief questionnaire (12 items) that aims to assess perceived stigma of chronic illness patients in family, work and health care contexts. Method. 279 chronic illness patients have completed the questionnaire, comparing the scores with those obtained in depression (BDI-II), anxiety (STAI), and internalized stigma scales. Results. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the Italian sample has shown the same structure of the original questionnaire, composed by three dimensions of anticipated stigma, experienced with family and friends, work colleagues and health care providers. Correlation analyses confirm the relation between scores of anticipated stigma and other mental health indicators as anxiety and depression. Conclusion. Italian version of CIASS demonstrates to be a valid and reliable instrument, considering it both as an indicator of person's state of health and a promising marker of the specific kind of perceived discrimination in family, care and working contexts.