Economic inequality increases the number of hours worked and decreases work-life balance perceptions: longitudinal and experimental evidence

International institutions' attention to work-life balance (WLB) demonstrates the global breadth of this issue. Yet the scientific community has thus far paid little attention to its structural underpinnings and to the interplay between these macro-level underpinnings and individual psychological factors. We examine the contextual role of economic inequality at the national level as a significant factor influencing working time and WLB perceptions using multiple empirical strategies. In the first set of studies (1a and 1b), we compared countries with different levels of inequality (Study 1a with 37 countries, Study 1b with longitudinal data from 34 countries, N = 254) and found increased working time and reduced WLB in highly unequal countries. In a pilot study ( N = 81) and in the pre-registered Studies 2 ( N = 338) and 3 ( N = 499) we corroborated this evidence with an experimentally induced inequality perception, reporting an indirect effect of inequality on WLB (Studies 2 and 3) and working time (Study 3) through status anxiety and competitiveness. In Study 2, we manipulated socio-economic class in addition to economic inequality, showing that the detrimental effect of inequality on WLB is especially marked for participants assigned to a low-class condition. This research contributes to an integrated understanding of the impact of economic inequality and socio-economic class in shaping WLB and provides useful insights for organizations to develop context-specific policies to improve employees' WLB that take both individual and structural factors into account

Psicologia sociale delle credenze complottiste: antecedenti, conseguenze, e comunicazione online

Le credenze complottiste possono essere definite come credenze rispetto al fatto che varie persone si coordinino segretamente e provino a raggiungere degli scopi segreti che vengono percepiti come illegali o maligni. Gli scopi di questa tesi sono stati definiti da tre aspetti chiave che riguardano lo studio delle credenze complottiste: a) la comunicazione delle teorie del complotto; b) gli antecedenti ambientali e individuali delle credenze complottiste, e c) le conseguenze delle credenze complottiste. Nel Capitolo 1, ho formalizzato il framework teorico sottostante gli studi riportati. Nel Capitolo 2, mi sono concentrato sugli aspetti della comunicazione online delle teorie del complotto. In particolare, nello Studio 1 ho esplorato quanto le teorie del complotto siano una componente delle narrative delle fake news. Nello Studio 2 ho investigato l'uso della retorica complottista nel discorso politico. In particolare, ho analizzato un campione di messaggi condivisi dai leader politici italiani sul social media Twitter. Inoltre, nello Studio 3, ho esplorato le differenze, in termini di caratteristiche psicolinguistiche, tra messaggi provenienti da forum online che parlano di teorie complottiste, rispetto ad altri forum online (riguardanti tematiche politiche, generali, e di scetticismo) sulla piattaforma Reddit. Infine, nello Studio 4 ho testato sperimentalmente se l'uso di una retorica complottista ha un impatto sulla popolarità dei messaggi. Nel Capitolo 3, mi sono concentrato sugli antecedenti delle credenze complottiste, ed in particolare sul ruolo della disuguaglianza economica nel aumentare le credenze complottiste. Specificatamente, in una serie di 7 studi ho testato se la disuguaglianza obiettiva (studi 5a, 5b, 5c), percepita (Studio 6), e manipolata (studi 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, e 9) fossero associate e provocassero le credenze complottiste. Inoltre, ho testato se l'anomia potesse spiegare questa relazione (studi 6, 7a, e 7b). Tenendo poi in considerazione le differenze individuali, ho investigato il ruolo di moderazione della visione del mondo complottista sull'impatto che la disuguaglianza economica ha sulle credenze complottiste (studi 8a e 8b). Infine, ho testato se la classe sociale influenzasse l'adesione alle teorie del complotto (Studio 9). Nell'ultimo capitolo, ho esplorato le conseguenze delle credenze complottiste. Prima, ho testato l'associazione tra credenze complottiste e l'intenzione di risolvere il problema della disuguaglianza economica attraverso il supporto ad azioni collettive (Studio 10) e alla tassazione (Studio 11). Infine, ho investigato se le credenze complottiste influenzassero la fiducia nei confronti degli scienziati con effetti negativi sulla compliance verso i vaccini contro il COVID-19 (studi 12a e 12b).Conspiracy beliefs can be defined as beliefs about a number of actors who join together in secret agreement and try to achieve a hidden goal which is perceived as unlawful or malevolent. The goals of this dissertation were defined by three key aspects of the study of conspiracy beliefs: a) the communication of conspiracy theories; b) the environmental and individual antecedents of conspiracy beliefs, and c) the consequences of conspiracy beliefs. In Chapter 1, I formalized the theoretical frameworks behind the studies reported. In Chapter 2, I focused on the online communication aspects of conspiracy theories. In particular, in Study 1 I explored whether and how conspiracy theories are a component of fake news narratives. In Study 2, I investigated the use of conspiratorial rhetoric in political discourse. Specifically, I analyzed a corpus of messages shared by Italian political leaders on the social media Twitter. Moreover, in Study 3, I explored the differences in terms of psycholinguistic features, between messages coming from conspiratorial message boards vs. other types of message boards (political, casual, and skeptical) retrieved from the social media Reddit. Finally, in Study 4 I experimentally tested whether the use of conspiratorial rhetoric has an impact on messages’ popularity. In chapter 3, I focused on the antecedents of conspiracy beliefs and, in particular, on the role of economic inequality on conspiracy beliefs. Specifically, in a set of 7 studies, I tested whether objective (Studies 5a, 5b, and 5c), perceived (Study 6), and manipulated (Studies 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, and 9) inequality are associated and prompt conspiracy beliefs. Moreover, I tested whether the perception of anomie can explain this relationship (Studies 6, 7a, 7b). Furthermore, taking into account personality differences, I investigated the role of conspiracy worldview in moderating the impact of economic inequality on conspiracy beliefs (Studies 8a and 8b). Finally, I tested whether social class affects the endorsement of conspiracy theories (Study 9). In the final chapter 4, I explored the consequences of conspiracy beliefs. First, I tested the association between conspiracy beliefs and the intention to address the economic inequality issue by supporting collective action (Study 10) and taxation (Study 11). Finally, I investigated whether conspiracy beliefs affect the trust in scientists with detrimental effects for COVID-19 vaccination compliance (Studies 12a and 12b)

It Matters to Whom You Compare Yourself: the Case of Unrealistic Optimism and Gender-Specific Comparisons

Unrealistic Optimism (UO) appears when comparing participants’ estimates of risk for themselves with an average peer, which typically results in lower risk estimates for the self. The present paper reports nuanced effects when comparison varies in terms of gender of the peer. In three studies (total N = 2468, 1 representative sample), risk estimates for COVID-19 infection were conducted with the same or other gender peer. If peer’s gender is not taken into account, previous studies’ effect is replicated: participants perceived themselves as less threatened. Respondents perceived women as less threatened than men and since women are perceived as more cautious and compliant with medical guidelines. Awareness of bias did not change this perception

Interethnic Communication

Globalization is making interethnic communication an increasingly widespread issue. The reduction of actual and psychological distances due to migratory flows and media communication increases contact opportunities between individuals from different ethnic groups. Communication between members belonging to different ethnic groups can also be considered a challenge as it brings in more general intergroup controversies. Ethnicity affects both verbal and nonverbal communication at different intensity levels. For example, using verbal communication, interethnic conflict may emerge through the use of hate speech, and\u2014at a lower intensity level\u2014may also emerge by the subtle use of pronouns (e.g., avoiding the use of \u201cwe\u201d to exclude members of other groups). Similarly, in nonverbal communication, interethnic conflicts may strongly be evident in explicit exclusion behaviors, but also in subtler cues such as by enhancing spatial distance from persons belonging to other groups. Ethnic identities and their implications are also evident in and influenced by mass media narratives, which mirror, establish, and perpetuate inequalities and discrimination. Interethnic communication is therefore a challenge and an opportunity to understand and to improve relationships between ethnic groups

Corpus FFF Climate Change on Twitter

A corpus of 19,112 English language tweets posted during a peak period of organisation of Fridays For Future protests (from 18 February to 10 October 2019), featuring the hashtag #climate, with addition of further hashtags as these emerged (e.g. #climateaction, #climatechange, #extintionrebellion). Token = 480,193; Type = 44,556; Type/token ratio = 9.28; Hapax legomena = 60.27. It includes the following variables associated with each tweet: Level of pollution of the country (*MTCO2Q); power distance (*PD); individualism (*I); uncertainty avoidance (*UA); long term orientation(*LTO); month of posting (*period); day of posting (*day); country of posting (*country)