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This article examines people-place relationships in a carbon-intensive area—i.e., heavily dependent on the steel industry and marked by severe environmental degradation—involved in the EU Just Transition Mechanism (Taranto, Italy). Drawing upon a psychosocial perspective grounded on social representations theory, this article focuses on intertwining the sense of place, identity processes, and agency to understand the dynamics of place stigma and identity devaluation. In-depth semi-structured interviews with active residents were thematically and discursively analyzed. The results suggest both theoretical and applied insights. Overall, they highlight a widely shared negative representation of the place related to territorial stigmatization, ambivalent place attachments, and devaluation of place-based and social identities. To cope with such processes and dynamics, identity processes seem to act as self-protective mechanisms both at a personal and social level. The article concludes by inviting a more comprehensive conceptualization of just transition, harm restoration, and related territorial planning to include the psychosocial processes underlying the community’s well-being and identity.

Background and objectives The treatment of chronic illnesses requires health care professionals (HCPs) to master several nontechnical skills to meet patient care needs. This article aims to describe the rationale and the inductive process through which a self-assessment tool for the nontechnical skills of hemophilia teams was conceived, developed, and tested. Methods Starting from an explorative analysis of hemophilia HCP work experiences, the process followed 3 phases: an in-depth analysis of hemophilia HCP skills; the questionnaire development; and a pilot study. Results Using the voice of HCPs as a starting point, the tool proved to be able to identify precise cross-professional and intercultural challenges as well as related required and/or acquired skills in the hemophilia field. Conclusion The proposed tool may contribute to providing HCPs with strategic knowledge to successfully perform everyday practices, to improve the effectiveness of hemophilia teams and the care model adopted by their centers, and to implement intercultural research in this field. It may be used to propose ad hoc training courses targeted by challenge, in order to fill the major gaps reported by the teams, or targeted by medical specialty or country (and therefore health care system) specificity.

This paper investigates how citizens of five European countries (Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, and Spain) enquire about scientific issues, how they rate scientific information on climate change and vaccines in terms of quantity and quality, and their strategies for overcoming perceived defects. We conducted a public consultation involving almost 500 citizens and addressed controversial science-related topics. Discussions were qualitatively content analyzed. The public consultations revealed the prevalence of traditional media as a source of scientific information, and the results presented a general perception of inadequate, imprecise, and insufficient scientific communication. Finally, we show how traditional media are still the most frequently used channels and that personal criteria prevail in the evaluation of the reliability of information sources.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11135-022-01569-5.

This paper provides a systematic overview of the psychosocial contribution to decarbonization studies and critically discusses current trends. Following the PRISMA protocol, we reviewed 404 articles informing how socio-psychological processes affect decarbonization, and vice versa, and highlighting research gaps and biases. Contrary to criticisms about methodological individualism and reductionism of socio-psychological research on sustainability, the review illustrates that the field is equally attentive to psychosocial processes operating at different levels, including the individual (e.g., attitudes, stress, environmental concerns), community (e.g., collective identity, justice, sense of place), and socio-cultural levels (e.g., social norms, values, memory). However, evidence shows some problematic trends in the literature: (i) A bias toward specific agents and geographies, which overlooks mesoscale actors (e.g., media, unions, NGOs) and developing and eastern countries; (ii) instrumental and normative views of transitions, which coincide with a prevailing focus on cognitive processes and a selective bias toward technologies, policies, places, and natural resources conceived as instrumental to decarbonization. This also emphasizes how biophysical processes, people–nature relationships, and the role of emotions in understanding the psychology of agents and decarbonization processes are almost absent; (iii) a research gaze normatively oriented toward the future, which risks neglecting continuity–discontinuity dynamics and the timing and pace of transitions.

This chapter discusses how social psychology can offer theoretical contributions for a better understanding of the relations between the institutional and public spheres and how this may impact change in ecological matters. First, it introduces the difference between natural and agreed—or chosen—limits to human action and draws on Sophocles’s Antigone to illustrate this and discuss how legitimacy has roots in the many heterogeneous values of the public sphere/consensual universe, while legality arises from the institutional/reified sphere. Recalling some empirical research in the area of social studies of sustainability, it then shows how a social representations perspective can help us understand the dynamic and interdependent relations between the institutional or reified sphere and the consensual or common sense universe—and their implications for social change and continuity.

Background: Assessing the viewpoints of health care professionals concerning their work with chronic patients is a relatively new research topic, widely overlooked in the literature. However, understanding their subjective work experience is highly relevant for identifying problems and perceived resources, enhancing health service organisation, improving relationships or communication with patients, and maintaining well-being. Purpose and method: Qualitative data from the "Haemophilia Experience, Results and Opportunities" Initiative - a research program aimed at investigating the psychosocial aspects of hemophilia - were used to evaluate the experiences of 62 professionals from seven countries around the world. Semi-structured interviews were submitted to thematic analysis of elementary contexts with the aid of T-Lab software. Results: Five dominant themes emerged, identifying the main challenges that professionals have to deal with in their everyday work practice: caring for impaired adult patients; handling policies and stakeholders; providing counselling on diagnosis and reproductive choices; considering the role of family dynamics; coping with adolescent patients. Conclusion: The outcomes of the study provide an opportunity to develop the area of the non-technical skills in the core curriculum of those who work with chronic illnesses by focusing on cross-professional competences and by improving a comprehensive care model for hemophilia patients.

Purpose On the verge of what has been hailed as the next technological revolution, the purpose of this paper is to examine scientific and popular definitions of the social robot, reflecting on how expert and lay spheres of knowledge interact. Drawing on social representations theory, this paper aims to elucidate how social robots are named and classified, and to examine the dynamics contributing to their definition. Design/methodology/approach Scientific and popular definitions of the social robot were investigated by conducting: a systematic review of relevant articles published from 2009 to 2015 in the International Journal of Social Robotics; an analysis of the definitions retrievable from the scientific literature using Google Scholar; and an assessment of the interest in the public sphere, and of the popular definitions retrievable online (by inputting “social robot” in Google Trends, and in Google). Findings Scientific definitions of the social robot adopt two strategies, one drawing on and merging previous definitions, the other proposing new, visionary, forward-looking definitions. Popular online definitions of social robots attribute new emotional, linguistic and social capabilities to their physical body. Research limitations/implications The findings need to be confirmed by further research, given the limited size of the data sets considered, and the distortions in the data due to filters and the opacity of the online tools employed. Originality/value Both scientific and non-scientific definitions see social robots as being capable of interacting with and working for humans, but attribute them a different degree of (functional or full) autonomy. In future, any controversy over the connotation of social robots is likely to concern their sociality and autonomy rather than their functionality.

International audience; Drawing upon a socio-constructivist perspective, this paper aims to gain insight into how two communities in the Italian Apennines region - differentially exposed to severe earthquakes in the past - remember, understand and plan for seismic phenomena. Avezzano was completely devastated in 1915, while the last significant event in Sulmona dates to 1706. However, both communities have indirectly experienced recent serious seismic events (e.g., L'Aquila earthquake in 2009 and Amatrice earthquake in 2016) as well as directly experienced lesser local tremblors. Interviews with citizens (N = 37) and stakeholders (N = 18) were conducted in the two cities and content-analysed with the support of NVivo software. The results show substantial differences in how respondents understand seismic events, access this information and prepare preventive strategies depending on their place of residence and role. The Avezzano community shares a more detached view, while the Sulmona community gives a more concerned picture. Moreover, the stakeholders tend to present an optimistic scenario, while citizens express a more critical viewpoint. Overall, the interview contents may be organised around two main oppositions: fatalism vs. empowerment in the face of an earthquake threat; and the will to forget about this risk vs. the need to remember it. The positioning on these two oppositions is defined by psychological, social and structural characteristics of individuals, and give rise to different representations of seismic risk and management. Such representations have practical implications for how the issue is addressed and faced in the communities' everyday life.

This paper investigates the dimensions of trust and the role of information sources and channels in developing differentiated forms of science communication. The discussions from two public consultations carried out in Italy and Slovakia about controversial science-related topics were quali-quantitatively content analysed. The results show that scientific knowledge pervades diverse communication spheres, producing differentiated paths of trust in science. Each path is determined by topics (environment or health-related), information sources and channels preferred, and specific features of the multifaceted notion of trust. The contribution discusses cross-national commonalities and specificities and proposes implications for science communication.

To foresee the potential acceptance, rejection and adaptation of robots in societies, it is necessary to overcome deterministic and linear assumptions and explore the plurality of meanings that shape our relationships with these emerging technologies. With this goal in mind, this study investigates the social representation of robots and its interconnection with attitudes and images, in a convenience sample of young adults in Italy (N = 422). Participants were asked to complete a self-report questionnaire consisting of a free-association task to the word stimulus “robot”, the Robot Attitude Scale, the acceptance of robots in different domains of life and a measure of mind perceptions of robots. The social representation of robots was articulated around three key semantic dimensions opposing: (1) ‘distant/detached’ vs ‘close/integrated’ views; (2) ‘ideal’ vs ‘material’ aspects; (3) assimilation with ‘ICTs’ vs with electric and mechanic ‘devices.’ These three dichotomies defined different positions connected with general attitudes, domain-specific evaluations of robots, and their level of perceived proximity with human beings. In particular, the view of robots as more concrete and integrated objects was related to positive attitudes and acceptance across all considered domains (i.e. Dull/Dirty, Education/Care and Health/Emergency dimensions). In contrast, more distant views were related to negative attitudes. Our study provides insights into how diverse positions could favour or hinder the introduction of robots in different spheres of everyday life.

This paper investigates how the notion of comprehensive care (CC) in haemophilia is presented in institutional guidelines and specialized understandings. A literature review of the articles published in Haemophilia was carried out. The main features which authors refer to when mentioning CC were outlined and compared with the principles, assumptions and recommendations set by the World Federation of Haemophilia in relation to this care model. The results show a fragmented scenario. First, very few articles are devoted/explicitly refer to CC. Second, only a few of them completely adhere to the notion of CC as proposed in institutional guidelines. In contrast, most articles stress a single feature, providing a partial view of the model. The focus is mainly on promoting physical health, which is however frequently associated with psychosocial health. Multidisciplinarity has great emphasis, too. Third, some key issues for CC emerge. They are implicitly present in institutional guidelines, but they become the very focus of some articles, which reflect on three challenges to be dealt with: care for all, transition care and systemic care. Such challenges offer the opportunity to clarify and expand the notion of haemophilia CC, and to propose future developments in research projects and interventions.

Photovoice is a participatory action-research strategy that has been mainly adopted to give voice to “unheard” groups. In this article, we adapted this strategy in a study on the social representat...

In this paper we examine the use of Twitter and Facebook in two dramatic earthquakes that hit Italy: L’Aquila (in 2009) and Emilia (in 2012). Indeed, disasters disrupt everyday life and engage people in meaning-making processes aimed at recovering meaning and control of their world. In these cases, we argue that the use of social media may contribute to social representations processes and functions: cognitive coping, social sharing of emotions, preserving self-efficacy, boosting identity, and community empowerment. Different methods were adopted to examine the use of social media in the immediate aftermath, a few days after, and in the medium-long term. Differences between the events, combined with the differences between Twitter and Facebook, entailed a multiplicity of uses. Nevertheless, the analyses point to the same conclusions: by fostering new forms of communication and encounters, social media played an increasingly important role during and after the earthquakes. First, they were used for providing information and material coping, then they favored the social sharing of emotions and joint remembering, and finally they contributed to claiming voice and control. Results thus suggest that the use of social media favored different representational functions, which progressively contributed to community empowerment.

Transition towards low-carbon societies requires multi-scalar and coordinated actions. It implies top-down and bottom-up processes of translation connecting supra-national regulations and targets, with policies and discourses enacted at the national and local level. However, there is a dearth of research analysing the coordination among different scales. The present paper explores how alternative views associated with energy sustainability are translated, supported or resisted, across different scales. Data were collected at a national, regional and local level in Italy. Political debates and newspaper reports, as well as interviews with key local informants, were analysed. The findings indicate elements of coherence as well as tensions and inconsistencies between discourses on energy sustainability taking place at different scales, corresponding to diverse models of governance and policy scenarios. The results suggest the need for a better coordination between centralised and decentralised energy policies; the need to recognise and address bottom-up inputs and concerns into national/regional strategies; and the need for enhancing participation and public engagement in energy governance.

This article examines the contents of the representations of sustainable energy in Italy from 2009 to 2011. In particular it explores the representations of energy, energy systems, and users. The article's starting point was the assumption that critical points may change the relationship between communities and the represented issues, and that new representations may be dialogically elaborated following relevant societal events. Political debates and newspaper articles dealing with sustainable energy were subjected to content analyses. Results show that the representations bear witness to the prevalence of economic and strategic approaches and a view of citizens whereby, even when involved in decentralized systems, they are required to stay passive. Alternative contents seem not to challenge the hegemonic view of energy. A clear trend toward sustainability is lacking, suggesting the absence of a continuing motivation to look at energy taking into account the civic growth of the population.

Far from being a univocal process, energy transitions involve several pathways and require research that connects multiple theoretical, disciplinary and methodological perspectives. The European scenario is a clear example of how the boundaries and the direction of such process are difficultly identifiable and merged with culturally situated meanings and practices. In this opening paper, drawing on a psychosocial background, we propose a cultural approach as an attempt to overcome the dichotomies between technical and human, social and individual accounts of energy transitions. In this framework, we illustrate the two main axes that guided this collection of research: a situated perspective, and a focus on different planes of transition (individual, community, societal). Then, we present the European scenario and introduce the contributions, which propose a large variety of epistemological perspectives, and theoretical, methodological and disciplinary integrations. We conclude with a commentary of the main challenges to be addressed in order to develop a shared scientific paradigm: the need for further integration towards shared interpretative frameworks, the quest for a constructive and future-oriented research attitude, the importance of connecting different planes of analysis to foresee alternative scenarios, and the need for proposals and solutions to be addressed to decision makers.

This article examines the long-lasting effects of an unwanted place change (i.e., the construction of a dam) on the social representations (SRs) of places and of place-community relationship. The study integrates an SRs approach, generative semiotics, and methods borrowed from research on the social making of autobiographical memory. The aim is to explore whether and how intergenerational family narratives contribute to the transmission of SRs. Parent-child pairs were asked to share episodes linked to the dam. Video-recordings were submitted to thematic content analysis and semiotic analysis. Results show that parents and children associate the dam with a radical transformation: it acts as a performer of separation between the community and its territory. The analysis of interactions gives further insights into the how family and community memories are connected. This first attempt confirms the potentialities of the integrated approach to understanding the processes of intergenerational transmissi...

This contribution examines levels and components of consciousness (knowledge, experiences, awareness, concerns, values) invoked by decision makers and key informants in their speeches on energy sustainability at the Italian parliament in the years 2009–2012. A socioconstructivist approach, indeed, suggests that meaning-making and negotiation processes involved in the creation of laws affect the cultural shift required for successful energy transitions. Discussions among decision makers (n = 90) and consultation with key informants (n = 93) were submitted to content analysis. Results show that levels of consciousness are low, and their increase is due to external events, but they rapidly return to the baseline when the events in question leave the agenda. Cognitive components largely prevail over affects and values. Concerns are associated with all the energy sources. The observed unbalance among the components of consciousness, although being a pragmatic rhetorical choice, opens several questions ...

Public engagement is considered a crucial process in the transition towards sustainable energy systems. However, less space has been devoted to understand how policy makers and stakeholders view citizens and their relationship with energy issues. Nonetheless, together with technological advancements, policies and political debates on energy affect public engagement as well as individual practices. This article aims at tackling this issue by exploring how policy makers and stakeholders have socially constructed sustainable energy in Italian parliamentary debates and consultations during recent years (2009–2012). Results show that societal discourses on sustainable energy are oriented in a manner that precludes public engagement. The political debate is characterised by argumentative ‘short-circuits’ that constrain individual and community actions to the acceptance or the refusal of top-down decisions and that leave little room for community empowerment and bottom-up innovation.

With the aim of addressing environmental concerns from an applied social psychological perspective, this study explores how regulations aimed at reducing industrial pollution contribute to short-term and long-term changes in social representations. The local river in a Valley characterised by strong interactions between industries and communities was the focus of concern. Three features of the representations were examined: images, emotional experiences and practices. The research followed a multi-method approach, using reports completed by 11-to 14-year-old school pupils and collected in three periods: 1974–1977; 1978–1980; 2007–2009. In the third time period, interviews and surveys were also collected. Textual data underwent lexicometric analyses and qualitative content analyses; quantitative data underwent descriptive and inferential analyses. Results show that effective regulations contributed to positive change in social representations of the river. After 30 years, however, tensions between elements of the representation are present. Images and emotional experiences of the river considerably improved, so much so that the river almost disappears from the focus of attention. Practices however are consistent with old representations of the water as noxious, indicating persistent concerns about potential pollution. Results suggest the desirability of continuing participatory engagement between citizens and local/environmental authorities, not only as new regulations are introduced but also after they have been enacted. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This article examines the way hard and soft energy paths are discussed by policy makers, key informants and the press in Italy. Adopting a psycho-social and constructivist perspective, we explored what representations of energy and users, and what technologies are associated with centralised and decentralised energy systems. A large textual corpus was gathered from the online archives of the Chamber of Deputies, using as search criteria the Italian keywords energ * and/or sostenibil * [sustainab*] for the period 2009–2012. Selected corpora ( N = 143 parliamentary debates and N = 841 newspaper articles) were submitted to content analysis. Results show that contents related to hard paths prevail over those typical of soft paths. However, while the contents expressed by the press fit with the hard/soft path dichotomy, political discourse is largely polyphasic and mixes elements of the two systems. These traces of incoherence suggest that energy transition is far from being completed and that sustainable energy is still a contended object of representation.

The present paper aims to stress the role that young people play as ‘actual citizens’, actively engaged in constructing the meaning-and-actions that define their own participation in the community. The case examined is the Chiampo Valley, in the North-East of Italy. This area is the most important tannery district in Europe and has serious problems concerning industrial waste management. By means of a questionnaire, we focus on the way 229 secondary school students perceive themselves as members of the local community, on what they see as being priorities in their own context, and on the contributions that they may make to addressing environmental issues. The results suggest that it is important for local institutions to give a voice to young people-as they themselves require-by developing participatory processes in institutional decision-making regarding environmental policies and-in general-the life of the community.

Innovation is necessary to face the present challenges in society (Europe 2020). We know that new ideas flourish from diversity. Differences between the two genders constitute a fundamental source of diversity in society. A consequence is that society could be more innovative if both genders are equally represented and they are both able to contribute. It is more and more important that diversity of ideas in decisional processes lead to develop innovation.