The relationship between self-report and indirect measures of values : is social desirability a significant moderator?

Introduction. The measurement of personal values is still a great challenge in social psychology due to the complex nature of this concept. Objective. Based on Schwartz’s theory of human values, this study aimed at analysing the relationship between the Values Implicit Association Test (VIAT), a relatively new indirect measure of values, and the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ), a well-known direct measure of values. Also, it examined whether social desirability moderates this relationship. Method. Seventy-three participants (64.4% female; M age = 25.46, SD = 4.04) took part to the study in a standardized setting. Results. Results showed different value priorities depending on the measure used (i.e., indirect vs direct), and although social desirability was related to participants’ responses on PVQ more than on VIAT, it did not moderate the association between direct and indirect measures for any of the examined values. Conclusions. Implications of the findings for value measurement and future developments are discussed

Biculturalismo, benessere psicologico e adattamento sociale.

Negli ultimi decenni si è assistito ad un incremento notevole del numero di persone biculturali, cioè di individui che sono esposti a più di una cultura nel corso della loro vita, per diverse ragioni. Le persone biculturali si trovano a dover conciliare identità culturali e ambienti sociali diversi, che presentano talvolta richieste e aspettative contrastanti, con ripercussioni per il loro benessere psicologico. Inoltre, nelle loro relazioni con i membri della società ospitante, le persone biculturali possono sentirsi valutate meno positivamente e trattate in modo diverso; tali percezioni possono svolgere un ruolo determinante sull’adattamento psicologico e sociale delle persone biculturali. La presente proposta di simposio raccoglie quattro recenti contributi volti a mettere in luce la complessa relazione tra biculturalismo e adattamento psicologico e sociale

Biculturalism and psychosocial well-being

Biculturalism has become a widely studied topic given the growing number of individuals who are exposed to more than one culture throughout their life, for different reasons. Bicultural individuals face the burden of having to deal with their multiple - and at times conflictual - cultural backgrounds and identifications which is linked to individuals’ general well-being. These contributions will discuss recent advances on the interplay between biculturalism and different facets of psychological adjustment within peculiar social and cultural contexts, thus allowing the audience to better comprehend how different aspects of biculturalism are related to psychosocial well-being

Figli adottivi alla ricerca delle origini: un’indagine esplorativa presso il Tribunale per i minorenni di Bari

La letteratura nazionale e internazionale nell’ambito dell’adozione ha posto il focus di studi e ricerche principalmente sulle fasi iniziali dell’adozione e sull’adolescenza, lasciando in ombra il fatto che l’adozione sia un life long process che si dipana anche durante l’età adulta. In questa fase infatti l’esperienza adottiva si ripropone all’adottato con una forza forse ancora maggiore rispetto alle precedenti fasi del ciclo di vita: in particolare la scelta del partner e la transizione alla genitorialità inducono l’adottato a fare i conti con la propria storia passata. con l’accudimento mancato e ricevuto e con la scelta relativa a se e cosa raccontare di sè e della propria storia

Bicultural Identity Integration of transracial adolescent adoptees: Antecedents and outcomes.

A number of studies have focused on Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) to explore whether and how migrants and ethnic minorities, who experience multiple cultural belongings, perceive their two cultural backgrounds as compatible (vs. conflictual) and to study the impact of these differences on their psychosocial well-being. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on BII among transracial adoptees, who also experience unique conditions of dual cultural belonging. Relying on a sample of 170 adopted adolescents born in Latin American countries and subsequently adopted in Italy (aged between 15 and 25) and both of their parents, the aim of the present study was twofold: to explore whether and the extent to which BII is related to adoptees\u2019 behavioral problems and to analyze the influence of specific family and social identity variables on BII. Multivariate analyses using the structural equation modeling indicated that adoptive filiation (i.e., belonging to the adoptive family) and parents\u2019 cultural socialization strategies are significant protective factors for national identity and ethnic identity, respectively, which in turn influences adoptees\u2019 behavioral problems, but this relation is mediated by differences in BII

Marital relationship in young families: A cross-sectional study

The purposes of the present cross-sectional study were to compare husbands' and wives' perceptions and to assess changes in marital quality when couple members are engaged in caring young children. In particular, this research was focused on a few variables usually considered as the fundamental dimensions of marital functioning: marital satisfaction and communication, satisfaction with division of labour, and child rearing stress. The sample was representative of the young families living in the North of Italy and it was composed of 592 marital couples; all together subjects were 1184. The instruments we used were included in a self-report questionnaire, which each spouse filled out separately. Results showed that wives are more dissatisfied with both the marital relationship and the division of household labour than husbands. Moreover, it emerged that above all fathers experience a decline in marital satisfaction and in communication quality, as the first child grows up; on the contrary, as far as wives' perceptions are concerned, the considered variables don't modify in a significant way. On the whole, results of the present research added weight to the supposition that this is a critical stage of family life span, not only for wives, as numerous research have already pointed out, but also for husbands

Multiple sources of adolescents' conservative values: A multilevel study

In a sample of 677 adolescents, extracted from 39 classes in 15 different high schools in Trento, Italy, a multilevel analysis was performed to analyze the relations between adolescents' conservative values, their perceptions of the conservative values their mothers would like to transmit to them (i.e., maternal socialization values) and the conservative values prevalent in their class context (i.e., classmates' and teachers' values). Perceived mothers' conservative values positively predicted adolescents' conservatism, while the mean class conservatism and teachers' conservatism did not. Also the cross-level interaction between mothers' and classmates' conservative values significantly predicted adolescents' conservative values. In particular, the relation between perceived mothers' conservatism and children's conservatism was stronger when adolescents perceived an alignment between their classmates' conservative values and their mothers' expectations of those values. Conversely, the interaction between mothers' and teachers' conservatism did not predict the criterion variable. Implications of this research and its possible developments are discusse