RISK AVERSION AND MAJOR CHOICE: EVIDENCE FROM ITALIAN STUDENTS

Does the choice of the field of study depend on individual risk aversion? The direction of the relationship between individual risk attitudes and type of college major chosen is potentially ambiguous. On the one hand, risk adverse individuals may prefer majors allowing high returns on the labour market; on the other hand, if these majors expose students to a higher probability of dropping out, those who are more risk adverse may be induced to choose less challenging fields. Using data from a sample of students enrolled in 2009 at a middle-sized Italian public University, we find that, controlling for a large number of individual characteristics, including cognitive abilities, personality traits and family background, more risk adverse students are more likely to choose any other field (Humanities, Engineering and Sciences) compared to Social Sciences. We interpret this result considering that some of these fields, such as Humanities, allow to reduce the risk of dropping out, while others (such as Engineering and Sciences)involve a lower risk on the labour market. It also emerges that the effect of risk aversion on major choice is related to student ability. Risk adverse students characterized by high abilities tend to prefer Engineering, while the propensity of risk adverse students to enrol in Humanities decreases when ability increases, suggesting that the attention paid to labour market risks and drop out risks varies according to student skills.Risk aversion, College choice, Education

Peer effects on risk behaviour: the importance of group identity

This paper investigates whether and to what extent group identity plays a role in peer effects on risk behaviour. We run a laboratory experiment in which different levels of group identity are induced through different matching protocols (random or based on individual painting preferences) and the possibility to interact with group members via an online chat in a group task. Risk behaviour is measured by using the Bomb Risk Elicitation Task and peer influence is introduced by giving subjects feedback regarding group members\u2019 previous decisions. We find that subjects are affected by their peers when taking decisions and that group identity influences the magnitude of peer effects: painting preferences matching significantly reduces the heterogeneity in risk behaviour compared with random matching. On the other hand, introducing a group task has no significant effect on behaviour, possibly because interaction does not always contribute to enhancing group identity. Finally, relative riskiness within the group matters and individuals whose peers are riskier than they are take on average riskier decisions, even when controlling for regression to the mean

Determinants of risk behaviour: three laboratory experiments on peer effects, group identity and incentive schemes

Risk is inherent in many social and economic decisions, such as the choice of pathway in secondary school, the choice of major at university, job decisions, health-related behaviour, marriage, parenthood, migration and the allocation of financial assets. Investigating the determinants of attitudes towards risk is therefore essential to fully understand how people make such decisions. Recent research has shown that individual risk attitudes are not immutable personality traits, but are influenced by external factors with the potential to change them in more or less enduring ways, such as the characteristics of the environment, emotional states, life experiences such as poverty, job loss or violence, and social relationships. This thesis studies external factors that play a role in shaping risk attitudes. Specifically, it focuses on two important environmental factors: social relationships and the incentive structure that individuals face (e.g., competition or teamwork). It is composed of three chapters. Each chapter of the thesis presents the results of a different laboratory experiment, in which individual risk behaviour is always measured using the Bomb Risk Elicitation Task - BRET (Crosetto and Filippin, 2013). This task asks participants to choose how many boxes to collect out of 100, knowing that 99 boxes contain £0.10 while one contains a bomb, but without knowing in which box the bomb is located. They can therefore choose their preferred lottery among 100 lotteries whose outcomes and probabilities are fully described only by one parameter, i.e., the number of collected boxes. Earnings increase linearly with the number of boxes collected, but they are all lost if the bomb lies in one of the collected boxes. In the first two chapters, risk behaviour is measured both before and after the treatment manipulation, and feedback on the peers’ ex-ante risk behaviour is used as a channel to study peer influence on the subjects’ ex-post risk behaviour. The first two chapters provide new evidence that individual risk behaviour is influenced by the risk behaviour of the peer group and offer one explanation for why peer effects are not always present and vary in intensity. This is due to the fact that individuals are more influenced by those peers with whom they feel more bonded. Specifically, in the first chapter I study how group identity (that is, the portion of an individual’s self-concept derived from the sense of belonging to the social group) affects peer effects on risk behaviour. I induce different levels of group identity through different matching protocols (random or based on individual painting preferences) and the possibility of interacting with group members via an online chat in a group task. I find that subjects are affected by their peers when taking decisions and that a stronger group identity amplifies the influence of peers: painting preferences matching significantly reduces the heterogeneity of risk behaviour compared with random matching. On the other hand, introducing a group task has no significant effect on behaviour, possibly because this interaction does not always contribute to enhancing group identity. The second chapter digs deeper into this evidence by investigating the role of the incentive structure that characterizes the individuals’ environment. Since the first chapter shows that peer effects vary in intensity, I hypothesize that different types of incentive schemes may have different effects on peer relationships and, therefore, affect peer effects on risk behaviour. Using a real effort task, which consists of recognizing the value and the country of origin of a random sequence of Euro coins, I compare piece-rate compensation first with a cooperation-based and then with a competition-based incentive scheme. I find that competition significantly reduces attachment to peers and more than halves peer influence on risk behaviour compared with piece-rate compensation, despite the fact that the latter effect is not statistically significant. Such findings suggest that, when designing and evaluating an optimal compensation scheme, it may be important to also consider how peer effects on subsequent risk behaviour will in turn affect future decisions involving risk. For example, in research and development, competition may improve the results of current projects, but risk attitudes will shape the types of future projects that are attempted. The third chapter restricts the attention to competition and enquires whether this type of incentive scheme has a direct effect on risk-taking behaviour, beyond any social comparison, and whether its impact on subsequent risk behaviour is heterogeneous according to gender. Risk behaviour is measured after the performance of a real effort task, consisting of recognizing the value and country of origin of Euro coins, incentivized either as a tournament with fixed rewards or as a random draw with the same monetary payoffs. The data show that competition does not significantly affect subsequent risk-taking behaviour when considering the full sample. However, there is a positive relationship between competition and risk aversion for males, who become significantly more risk-averse after losing a competition than after randomly earning the same low payoff. In contrast, males do not become more risk-seeking after winning the tournament, while the average risk-taking behaviour of females is unaffected by tournament participation and outcomes. The reaction of males to negative outcomes might be driven by intrinsic motives, such as emotions or a shift in the locus of control from internal to external. Overall, the evidence presented here shows that risk attitudes are not immutable but may be shaped by external factors. Of particular importance is the role played by the risk behaviour of peers, which begins to emerge even when bonds are weak and becomes stronger as the social link intensifies. Any policy that aims to change risk attitudes (or that does so indirectly) will thus see its effects spread to the target subjects’ peers, and may amplify its success if the peer group is chosen wisely. Changing the characteristics of the subjects’ environment by introducing competition weakens their attachment to the competing peers and may attenuate peer effects on risk behaviour. In addition, competition per se has no impact on subsequent risk behaviour, except for males who become more risk-averse after losing

Evidence on Problematic Online Gaming and Social Anxiety over the Past Ten Years: a Systematic Literature Review

AbstractPurpose of ReviewThe present study aimed to review the literature concerning the relationship between problematic online gaming (POG) and social anxiety, taking into account the variables implicated in this relationship. This review included studies published between 2010 and 2020 that were indexed in major databases with the following keywords: Internet gaming, disorder, addiction, problematic, social phobia, and social anxiety.Recent FindingsIn recent years, scientific interest in POG has grown dramatically. Within this prolific research field, difficulties associated with social anxiety have been increasingly explored in relation to POG. Indeed, evidence showed that individuals who experience social anxiety are more exposed to the risk of developing an excessive or addictive gaming behavior.SummaryA total of 30 studies satisfied the initial inclusion criteria and were included in the present literature review. Several reviewed studies found a strong association between social anxiety and online gaming disorder. Furthermore, the relationships among social anxiety, POG, age, and psychosocial and comorbid factors were largely explored. Overall, the present review showed that socially anxious individuals might perceive online video games as safer social environments than face-to-face interactions, predisposing individuals to the POG. However, in a mutually reinforcing relationship, individuals with higher POG seem to show higher social anxiety. Therefore, despite online gaming might represent an activity able to alleviate psychopathological symptoms and/or negative emotional states, people might use online gaming to counterbalance distress or negative situations in everyday life, carrying out a maladaptive coping strategy

Natural history of patients with non cirrhotic portal hypertension: Comparison with patients with compensated cirrhosis

Background. The knowledge of natural history of patients with portal hypertension (PH) not due to cirrhosis is less well known than that of cirrhotic patients. Aim. To describe the clinical presentation and the outcomes of 89 patients with non-cirrhotic PH (25 with non-cirrhotic portal hypertension, INCPH, and 64 with chronic portal vein thrombosis, PVT) in comparison with 77 patients with Child A cirrhosis. Methods. The patients were submitted to a standardized clinical, laboratory, ultrasonographic and endoscopic follow-up. Variceal progression, incidence of variceal bleeding, portal vein thrombosis, ascites and survival were recorded. Results. At presentation, the prevalence of varices, variceal bleeding and ascites was similar in the 3 groups. During follow-up, the rate of progression to varices at risk of bleeding (p<0.0001) and the incidence of first variceal bleeding (p=0.02) were significantly higher in non-cirrhotic then in cirrhotic patients. A PVT developed in 32% of INCPH patients and in 18% of cirrhotics (p=0.02). Conclusions. In the patients with non–cirrhotic PH variceal progression is more rapid and bleeding more frequent than in cirrhotics. Patients with INCPH are particularly prompt to develop PVT. This observational study suggests that the management of patients with non-cirrhotic PH should take into consideration the natural history of portal hypertension in these patients and cannot be simply derived by the observation of cirrhotic patients

The ovarian reserve as target of insulin/IGF and ROS in metabolic disorder-dependent ovarian dysfunctions

It is known for a long time that metabolic disorders can cause ovarian dysfunctions and affect a woman's fertility either by direct targeting follicular cells and/or the oocytes or by indirect interference with the pituitary-hypothalamic axis, resulting in dysfunctional oogenesis. Such disorders may also influence the efficiency of the embryo implantation and the quality of the embryo with permanent effects on the fertility and health of the offspring. Thanks to the expanding knowledge on the molecular mechanisms governing oogenesis and folliculogenesis in mammals, we are beginning to understand how such disorders can negatively affect this process and consequently fertility in women. In the present review, we point out and discuss how the disturbance of insulin/IGF-dependent signalling and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in the ovary typically associated to metabolic disorders such as type II diabetes and obesity can dysregulate the dynamics of the ovarian reserve and/or impair the survival and competence of the oocytes

Vulnerable narcissism and body image centrality in cosplay practice: A sequential mediation model

In recent years, the cosplay practice has become a ubiquitous activity, representing a pivotal way to get in touch with the so-called geek culture and its media content (such as videogames, comics, manga). Cosplaying appeared related to narcissistic fragility which in turn is strictly linked to social appearance anxiety and self-objectification experiences. However, despite the body image centrality in cosplay practice, no studies evaluated cosplayers’ narcissistic vulnerability in association with these body imagerelated issues. A total of 926 young adults (73.2% female; 47.3% cosplayer; mean age=25.3 years) participated in the study. Results confirmed the direct and indirect effect of narcissistic vulnerability on social appearance anxiety (via body surveillance and body shame) among both cosplayers and noncosplayers. Overall, narcissistically vulnerable individuals, regardless of their involvement in cosplay practice, seem to experience higher body surveillance and body shame, which in turn might promote social appearance anxiety

Therapeutic Microbiology: The Role of Bifidobacterium breve as Food Supplement for the Prevention/Treatment of Paediatric Diseases

The human intestinal microbiota, establishing a symbiotic relationship with the host, plays a significant role for human health. It is also well known that a disease status is frequently characterized by a dysbiotic condition of the gut microbiota. A probiotic treatment can represent an alternative therapy for enteric disorders and human pathologies not apparently linked to the gastrointestinal tract. Among bifidobacteria, strains of the species Bifidobacterium breve are widely used in paediatrics. B. breve is the dominant species in the gut of breast-fed infants and it has also been isolated from human milk. It has antimicrobial activity against human pathogens, it does not possess transmissible antibiotic resistance traits, it is not cytotoxic and it has immuno-stimulating abilities. This review describes the applications of B. breve strains mainly for the prevention/treatment of paediatric pathologies. The target pathologies range from widespread gut diseases, including diarrhoea and infant colics, to celiac disease, obesity, allergic and neurological disorders. Moreover, B. breve strains are used for the prevention of side infections in preterm newborns and during antibiotic treatments or chemotherapy. With this documentation, we hope to increase knowledge on this species to boost the interest in the emerging discipline known as "therapeutic microbiology"

First report outside Eastern Europe of West Nile virus lineage 2 related to the Volgograd 2007 strain, northeastern Italy, 2014

open11noWest Nile virus (WNV) is a Flavivirus transmitted to vertebrate hosts by mosquitoes, maintained in nature through an enzootic bird-mosquito cycle. In Europe the virus became of major public health and veterinary concern in the 1990s. In Italy, WNV re-emerged in 2008, ten years after the previous outbreak and is currently endemic in many areas of the country. In particular, the northeastern part of Italy experience continuous viral circulation, with human outbreaks caused by different genovariants of WNV lineage 1, Western-European and Mediterranean subcluster, and WNV lineage 2, Hungarian clade. Alongside the WNV National Surveillance Program that has been in place since 2002, regional surveillance plans were implemented after 2008 targeting mosquitoes, animals and humans.openRavagnan, Silvia; Montarsi, Fabrizio; Cazzin, Stefania; Porcellato, Elena; Russo, Francesca; Palei, Manlio; Monne, Isabella; Savini, Giovanni; Marangon, Stefano; Barzon, Luisa; Capelli, GioiaRavagnan, Silvia; Montarsi, Fabrizio; Cazzin, Stefania; Porcellato, Elena; Russo, Francesca; Palei, Manlio; Monne, Isabella; Savini, Giovanni; Marangon, Stefano; Barzon, Luisa; Capelli, Gioi