The central focus of this research is the fast and crucial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its exceptionally serious consequences in terms of healthcare, state intervention and impositions, radical changes in people’s life, on a crucial psychological, relational, and political construct: trust. In this survey, addressed to 4260 Italian citizens, we tried to analyze and measure such impact, focusing on various aspects of trust. This attention to multiple dimensions of trust constitutes the key conceptual advantage of this research, since (...) trust is a complex and layered construct, with its own internal dynamics. In particular, the analysis focuses on how citizens attribute trust to Public Authorities, in relation to the management of the health crisis: with regard to the measures and guidelines adopted, the purposes pursued, the motivations that determine them, their capacity for involvement and their effectiveness for the containment of the virus itself. A pandemic creates a bilateral need for trust, both in Public Authorities (they have to rely on citizens’ compliance, and must try to promote and maintain their trust in order to be effective), and in citizens, since they need to feel that somebody can do something, can (has the power) to protect them, to act at the needed collective level. We are interested to explore how this need for trust affects the attributional process, regarding both attitudes and the corresponding decisions and actions. The most striking result of this survey is the very high level of institutional trust expressed by respondents: 75% of them trust Italian public authorities to be able to deal with the COVID-19 emergency. This is in sharp contrast with the relatively low levels of institutional trust characteristic of Italy, both historically and in recent surveys. Moreover, the survey allowed to discriminate several potential predictors for trust, thus emphasizing factors that, during this crisis, are exhibiting an anomalous impact on trust. (shrink)

Una raccolta di riflessioni originali sul rapporto tra la scienza e la nostra società, a partire dal pensiero del grande fisico e intellettuale Carlo Bernardini.

Cet article est la seconde partie d'un travail de théologie fondamentale où l'A. cherche à préciser les rapports qui doivent unir philosophie et théologie afin d'éviter toute instrumentalisation ou toute négligence de l'une face à l'autre discipline. Ici, l'A. présente les exemples de Heidegger et de Rahner pour illustrer un modèle historique de solution à ce problème. Il s'agit d'assumer le principe de révélation comme point de départ obligé pour un rapport correct entre foi et raison. De la révélation découlent (...) trois éléments caractérisitiques qui qualifient le savoir théologique : la révélation comme fondement de la pensée théologique, la nouveauté radicale de l'acte révélateur, l'historicité de Jésus de Nazareth. (shrink)

Che cos'č un individualismo sociale? Quali i vincoli che lo rendono possibile? Nel rispondere a queste domande, l'autore problematizza la tradizione trascendentale della filosofia occidentale e la teoria sociologica della differenziazione. Usa inoltre come termini opposti cultura e societÀ per giungere infine a definire l'ossimoro «individualismo sociale» come la forma utopico-concreta del socialismo odierno.

An immanent criticism of family criticism. Beyond the concept of authoritarian family, typical of the Frankfurt School particularly in order to grasp the sources of totalitarianism, the article considers that modern family system dedifferentiation is the objective process of its abolition at the present moment. This in two different ways: with the massive return of old family systems as clans and tribes, and through feminist and gay power revendications. The final suggestion is a social individualism in order to support without (...) trauma the current family perishing. (shrink)

- L'impasse della democrazia, in Italia e altrove, si puň descrivere come crisi della rappresentanza e come sua deriva populistica e plebiscitaria. Le undici tesi cercano di mettere a fuoco questa crisi, intendendola come un problema di deformazione cui la democrazia č sottoposta fin dalle sue origini, e opponendo ad essa, con il riferimento a un modello teorico non puramente procedurale, una concezione dinamica che veda la democrazia come base per una cittadinanza e una partecipazione in via di costante ampliamento (...) e articolazione. (shrink)

To adequately model mathematical arguments the analyst must be able to represent the mathematical objects under discussion and the relationships between them, as well as inferences drawn about these objects and relationships as the discourse unfolds. We introduce a framework with these properties, which has been used to analyse mathematical dialogues and expository texts. The framework can recover salient elements of discourse at, and within, the sentence level, as well as the way mathematical content connects to form larger argumentative structures. (...) We show how the framework might be used to support computational reasoning, and argue that it provides a more natural way to examine the process of proving theorems than do Lamport’s structured proofs. (shrink)

Previous research on the interpersonal effects of emotions in negotiation suggested that bargainers obtain higher outcomes expressing anger, when it is not directed against the counterpart as a person and it is perceived as appropriate. Instead, other studies indicated that successful negotiators express positive emotions. To reconcile this inconsistency, we propose that the direction of the effects of emotions depends on their perceived target, that is, whether the negotiators’ emotions are directed toward their opponent’s proposals or toward their own ‘exit (...) option’. An ultimatum game scenario experiment showed that negotiators who express positive emotion rather than negative, in addition to benefits in terms of relationship fortification, received better offers when participants perceived the negotiators’ emotions directed toward their own ‘exit option’. These findings indicate that positive emotions may signal the availability of better ‘exit option’, suggesting that happiness expressions can be strategically used to maximize both material and relational outcomes. (shrink)

Many bacteria respond in a coordinate manner to environmental changes. External stimuli, sensed by receptors, are transduced to regulatory proteins which participate in well defined pathways of gene expression by varying their structure and mode of action. The network of environmental signal transduction is responsible for a fine and continuous communication between the host and the pathogenic bacteria. As a result, the gene expression machinery of the pathogen is modified continuously, in order to establish the optimal conditions for bacterial survival (...) and multiplication. (shrink)

This study investigates the relationship between moral stress reactions and resulting coping efforts in severely morally challenging situations. Long-term positive reactions and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) indicators following morally challenging situations are also studied. The sample consisted of cadets and officers (n = 332) from Norway and Sweden. Long-term positive reactions were found to be associated with limited moral stress reactions during the challenging episode and frequent use of acceptance and positive reappraisal coping strategies. Long-term high scores on a PTSD (...) indicator scale covaried with high scores on Openness, a strong moral stress reaction, and frequent use of instrumental coping strategies. The main conclusion is that the immediate moral stress reaction and coping strategies following morally challenging situations appear to be related to both positive long-term reactions and to indicators of PTSD. (shrink)

The European market has faced a series of recurrent food scares, e.g. mad cow disease, chicken flu, dioxin poisoning in chickens, salmons and recently also in pigs (Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera , 07/12/2008). These food scares have had, in the short term, major socio-economic consequences, eroding consumer confidence and decreasing the willingness to buy potentially risky food products. The research reported in this paper considered the role of commitment to a food product in the context of food scares, and (...) in particular the effect of commitment on the purchasing intentions of consumers, on their attitude towards the product, and on their trust in the food supply chain. After the initial commitment had been obtained, a threat scenario evoking a risk associated with a specific food was presented, and a wider, related request was then made. Finally, a questionnaire tested the effects of commitment on the participants’ attitude towards the product. The results showed that previous commitment can increase consumers’ behavioural intention to purchase and their attitude towards the food product, even in the presence of a potential hazard. (shrink)

Recent studies have shown that the indigenous population has been subject to social exclusion (Medel, 2016; Tetreault,2012; Rionda,2010; Del Popolo et al.,2009; World Bank,2004; Uquillas et al.,2003; Appasamy,1996). However, in the case of Mexico, there is no indicator to measure the degree of social exclusion. This article presents a methodology for estimating social exclusion index (IES) by estimating main components. Our proposal is to incorporate the index of social exclusion as a factor that can explain the current status of poverty (...) in the localities that have a high concentration of indigenous population and high economic marginalization in the state of Veracruz, and thus analyze the scope social policy to combat poverty, as the case Development Program Priority Areas (PDZP). (shrink)