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Title: Girls in Motion: How Sport and Environment Shape Mind and Future
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Prof. Francesca Federico
ABSTRACT: Adolescence represents a complex developmental phase characterized by profound neurobiological, cognitive, and psychophysical changes, during which everyday experiences and environmental contexts play a crucial role in shaping well-being and individual developmental trajectories (Steinberg, 2014). Numerous studies have shown that the interaction between environmental factors, lifestyle habits, and physical activity significantly influences the development of executive functions, defined as higher-order cognitive abilities involved in behavioural regulation, planning, working memory, and inhibitory control (Diamond, 2013). In particular, regular engagement in physical activity and exposure to natural environments have been associated with improvements in self-regulation, attentional capacities, and mental health during development (McCormick, 2017; Lubans et al., 2016). At the same time, over recent decades, the age at menarche has shown a significant downward trend in many Western populations (Parent et al., 2003), a phenomenon that appears to be influenced by factors such as sedentary lifestyles, urban pollution, chronic stress, and exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, with potential negative long-term health consequences (Brix et al., 2019). Within this framework, outdoor activities and sports participation may function as protective factors, contributing to a more balanced endocrine and metabolic regulation during puberty (Davison & Susman, 2001). In light of this evidence, the project “Girls in Motion: How Sport and Environment Shape Mind and Future” aims to investigate, through an integrated and multidimensional approach, the role of sociocultural contexts, sports participation, and exposure to natural environments in the development of executive functions, psychological well-being, and pubertal timing, with a specific focus on age at menarche. The study adopts a quantitative, correlational design and involves the administration of an online questionnaire to a sample of adolescent girls aged 13–18 years. Validated psychometric instruments will be used to assess executive functions, resilience, self-esteem, rejection sensitivity, and prosociality, alongside the collection of data on lifestyle habits and environmental context. The project seeks to examine whether earlier menarche is associated with greater difficulties in emotional regulation and poorer executive functioning, and whether protective factors—such as regular physical activity, contact with nature, and high-quality social relationships—may mitigate these effects. The adopted perspective aims to move beyond a reductionist view of menarche as a purely biological event, interpreting it instead as a potential “sentinel biomarker” of psychophysical and environmental health. The expected findings may contribute to advancing knowledge on adolescent development and inform preventive and educational interventions within an “ecology of development” framework, in which body, mind, and environment are deeply interconnected.
Title: Intergroup contact as an agent of cognitive liberalization
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Prof. Flavia Albarello
ABSTRACT: Intergroup contact is widely recognized as an effective and validated method for ameliorating intergroup relations. A recent contribution by Hodson et al. (2018) suggests that contact outcomes might go far beyond intergroup perceptions, as it might represent a factor inducing “cognitive liberalization”. That is, contact not only shapes the content/valence of intergroup attitudes, but also affects how people think about, approach, and deal with the world; thus, it can be assumed to affect individual mindsets in terms of how they see other individuals as well as group members. Endorsing a perspective recognizing the intertwined effects of individual and contextual factors in affecting intergroup attitudes, this contribution aims to unravel, for the first time the effect of positive contact with a counterstereotypical group member (i.e., women as managers) in affecting individuals' mindsets about others in terms of endorsement of implicit person theories (IPT), gender essentialistic (GE) beliefs, and multiple categorization thinking via the mediation of individual's epistemic motivation to achieve and maintain the stability of own knowledge (Need for cognitive closure [NCC]; Kruglanski, 2004). To this end, two studies will be conducted (Study 1, cross-sectional; Study 2, experimental) to assess the role of positive contact on variables that express an individual’s mindsets. Cognitive dissonance derived from contact will be added as a moderator of the relationship between contact and NCC. Evidence from the studies will provide the first empirical evidence on the role of positive intergroup contact as a cognitive liberalization agent.
Title: Nurturing Resilience and Well-Being in Disadvantaged Youth
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Prof. Fabio Alivernini
ABSTRACT: in Italy, 14.2% of minors live in absolute poverty (ISTAT, 2022). Socioeconomic disadvantage not only limits material resources but also increases the risk of poor health, behavioral difficulties, and low academic achievement, with long-term negative effects on both individuals and society (Ackerman et al., 2004; Alivernini et al., 2021; Haushofer & Fehr, 2014). While these risks are well documented, much less is known about the protective resources that can foster resilience and support positive development among. This project aims to identify contextual factors that promote psychological well-being in this population. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017, 2020), the study will focus on the role of autonomy-supportive practices from parents and teachers and on the impact of peer relationships, including friendship, acceptance, and victimization. Although these factors have been studied in general populations, their specific contribution to disadvantaged youth remains unexplored. The research design combines a cross-sectional and a longitudinal study. Participants will be recruited from schools in disadvantaged urban and suburban areas across Italy. Validated instruments will be used to assess motivational and contextual factors, with standardized administration procedures overseen by trained psychologists. The findings are expected to advance knowledge on resilience processes in disadvantaged youth and provide evidence to guide educational interventions aimed at strengthening well-being and academic adjustment in vulnerable populations.
Titolo: Promuovere la resilienza e il benessere nei giovani in condizioni di svantaggio socioeconomico
Title: Personal Values and Pro-Environmental Behaviors: Insights from Schwartz’s Theory
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Prof. Michele Vecchione
ABSTRACT: The study aims to investigate the role of personal values in fostering pro-environmental orientations and environmentally sustainable behaviors in the Italian adult population. To this end, Schwartz’s theory (2017), which identifies 19 distinct value dimensions, will be adopted. It is hypothesized that the importance attributed to Universalism values is associated with more favorable attitudes toward the environment and a higher frequency of environmentally sustainable behaviors. These values promote feelings and attitudes of understanding, appreciation, and protection toward the well-being of humanity and nature. Value dimensions antagonistic to Universalism may instead inhibit or counteract environmentalist tendencies and inclinations. In particular, Power values emphasize the importance of status and prestige through control over other people or material resources, thus conflicting with the pursuit of values related to environmental protection. Other domains, such as Conformity and Security, may show significant associations with pro-environmental orientation insofar as protecting nature acquires a “normative” connotation or as a result of a growing perception that failing to assume this responsibility may represent a threat to one’s own security. The study also aims to examine the role of several variables that may moderate these relationships, namely: (1) perceived psychological distance from environmental impacts; (2) perceived ability to contribute, through one’s own actions, to a more sustainable world (environmental locus of control); and (3) concern about the potential adverse effects resulting from the environmental crisis.
Title: GROPP- Group Participation during the Pandemic: Reconfigurations, Trajectories and New Forms of identities and Belonging
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Prof. Cristina Zucchermaglio
ABSTRACT: The negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economic, social, and psychological levels have been extensively analyzed. Empirical studies have described how the pandemic-imposed restrictions on people's social lives have led to increased stress, anxiety, depression, feelings of isolation, and overall impact on their mental health (Mukhtar, 2020, Saltzman et al., 2020; Rehmani et al., 2023; Miscioscia et al., 2022). Less studied, however, is how these restrictions have affected the diverse mix of participation in group that populate our everyday lives, which is the focus of the project. How this the suspension or modification of those social rituals of contact affected forms of social participation in social groups and communities? Were these participations simply interrupted, or did the pandemic restrictions lead to different reconfigurations? Or did they even give rise to new communities? The project will be an original study of the topic by (i) focusing on the previously unexamined theme of groups' participation across different stages of the pandemic period, (ii) applying an emic methodological approach, in which the analytical interest lies in analyzing how young adult participants narrate and account for the change in their costellation of group participations during the pandemic period. This analytic framework offers a novel outlook and conceptual tools that will facilitate the analysis of group participation trajectories at a more nuanced level, allowing for the examination of the intricate and heterogeneous effects of the pandemic and its restrictions. The aim is to contribute to the knowledge surrounding the role of pandemic in the reconfiguration of our social life, highlighting he relevance of considering how the pandemic has affected not homogenously the participation in different groups along such a atypical period.
Title: Professional Practices, Resources, and Challenges of Practitioners in Services for Young Migrants
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Prof. Francesca Alby
ABSTRACT: the ORMA research project (Operators, Resources, Migrants, Reception) aims to analyze the professional practices, resources, and challenges that characterize the work of practitioners engaged in reception services for unaccompanied foreign minors and young migrants. These professionals operate in complex contexts, marked by tensions between logics of care and control, contractual precariousness, and chronic shortages of resources, which make a continuous process of mediation necessary between institutional constraints, educational needs, and beneficiaries’ pathways toward autonomy. Through a qualitative approach based on narrative interviews and thematic analysis, the research seeks to highlight the skills, motivations, and values that underpin practitioners’ daily commitment, as well as the strategies adopted to cope with the structural limitations of the system. The project’s innovative contribution lies in adopting practitioners’ perspectives as a privileged lens through which to understand the complexity of reception, with the aim of advancing theoretical and empirical knowledge and offering insights for the development of policies and training pathways better suited to the needs of the sector.
Title: The Development and Impact of Kindness within the Preschool Context
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Prof. Stefania Sette
ABSTRACT: In times of division, conflict, or violence, promoting kindness early in development aligns with relevant educational goals that aim to foster social inclusion and respectful from an early age (Malti, 2020, 2025). Kindness has been defined as a genuine concern for the welfare of others in need (Malti, 2020). Kindness, comprises three pillars: (1) kind emotions and (2) kind cognitions, which in turn may lead to increased (3) kind behaviors. Researchers have highlighted the benefits related to kindness for children’s social relationships (Eisenberg et al., 2025; Malti, 2025; Sette et al., 2017). Successful peer relationships are relevant to the overall social adjustment during the preschool years, whereas failure in this developmental task represents a risk for children’s maladjustment (Denham et al., 2012). Still, more longitudinal research is needed to understand the development of the kindness and its impact on children’s social relationships within the preschool context (Malti & Dys, 2018). This research project aims to understand the development of children’s kindness and its impact on preschoolers’ peer relationships. A convenience sample of preschoolers aged from 3 to 5 years (N = 250) will be recruited twice (one year apart). At both times, parents and teachers will complete a questionnaire designed to assess several dimensions of children’s kindness, including kind behaviors (i.e. prosocial act), emotions (i.e., sympathy, emotion regulation), and cognitions (i.e., perspective taking). Teachers and peers will also assess children’s social relationships in terms of acceptance or rejection. The current research project aims to enhance our understanding, as well as that of practitioners, families, and educators, of the development of children’s kindness and its positive impact on relational well-being in early childhood, thereby exploring factors that promote respectful, social inclusion, and caring practices within the specific school context.
Title: Audiovisual Intertwining: History of Education with and to the Media in the Age of Television
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Simona Finetti
ABSTRACT: Using the media as education technologies and teaching the media are distinct fields, which media educators can profitably intertwine by coordinating their respective goals. Historians of education have studied the use of media as educational and teaching technologies from multiple perspectives. Instead, the reconstruction of the history of media education, understood as a branch of education devoted to consolidate skills for accessing, analyzing, evaluating, and producing media messages in people of all ages, is still in progress. This project aims to advance historical and pedagogical research by fruitfully intertwining case studies on the use of educational technologies and media education during the 20th century. Drawing from the latest research paradigms in the field, it explores fertile intersections between theory and practice, contextualizing them in a historiographical and pedagogical framework. At the same time, it establishes a network with a transdisciplinary and transnational outlook, in close collaboration with the historians of education from the Catholic University of Milan, leading center in this field of research, and with scholars of Media Pedagogy at Parma’s University.
Title: Risk and protective factors for adolescent students' psychological adjustment and academic outcomes: a multidimensional analysis of individual and group determinants
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Sara Manganelli
ABSTRACT: adolescence is a critical developmental stage in which biological, psychological, and social changes make young people particularly sensitive to contextual influences. International evidence shows that adolescents from disadvantaged socio-economic and cultural backgrounds are at greater risk of poor mental health, reduced well-being, and lower educational outcomes, and these inequities have widened following the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, research highlights the protective role of school environments, teacher practices, and students' motivational and relational resources. However, the interplay between these malleable factors and non-malleable factors, at both the individual and group levels, remains understudied. This project aims to address this gap by adopting a multidimensional framework grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and applying advanced multilevel and latent-variable analyses. Drawing on large, representative cross-sectional and longitudinal samples of Italian adolescents, the study will investigate how individual and classroom-level determinants jointly shape psychological adjustment and educational outcomes. The design allows robust estimation of effects across diverse socio-economic and cultural contexts, overcoming limitations of prior research. The project is innovative in integrating SDT with literature on school climate and international survey evidence on socio-economic and cultural disparities. Expected outcomes include identifying risk factors that exacerbate inequities and protective factors that buffer students against disadvantage. By clarifying these mechanisms, the project will provide evidence-based guidance for designing school interventions and informing teachers' practices, with the broader aim of supporting adolescent well-being, promoting equitable learning opportunities, and enabling all adolescents to flourish.
Title: Common Roots: Socialization and Learning Practices in Parent-Child Education Contexts
Funding programme/measure: 2025 University Research Call
Scientific director: Prof. Marilena Fatigante
ABSTRACT: The research project originates from two parental educational experiences involving preschool children (ages 0–6) and elementary school children. Both experiences are characterized by an emphasis on the relationship with nature, the importance of outdoor learning, and a conception of learning as discovery, experimentation, and the outcome of collaborative practices promoted both within the group of children and shared between parents and educators.
Building on these experiences, the research aims to explore the following main areas: 1. Socialization and learning practices of children mediated by contact with and experience of nature; 2. Educator-child interaction practices and the analysis of how such interactions make relevant the foundational values of parental education and education in nature; 3. Cultural assumptions and representations of learning that underpin educational planning in parental nature-based educational contexts; 4. Practices of collaboration and co-design between parents and educators/teachers.
The research employs a qualitative approach and is situated within the linguistic socialization paradigm (Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984; Ochs, Pontecorvo & Fasulo, 1996), and foresees data collection through participant observation, interaction analysis, analysis of texts, photographs, and multimedia materials, as well as interviews. The study intends to contribute to the scientific understanding of socialization processes in parental and nature-based educational contexts, highlighting the crucial role of adult-child interaction as a mediator of meanings and cultural values concerning the self, others, and the surrounding physical and relational world.
Project: ”INcontro al bullismo: A Guide for Secondary Schools"
Coordinator: Dr. Madalina Grigore (tutor: Prof. Anna Di Norcia)
Working group: Dr. Silvia Carelli
Abstract: the project stems from the experience of psycho-educational interventions for the prevention of bullying and intimidation, conducted between 2022 and 2023 in collaboration with the Department of Psychology of Developmental Processes and Socialization. These interventions were presented at the XXXV National AIP Congress and the AIRIPA 2024 conference. The latest data (Istat, 2021) indicate that bullying is rising in Italian schools, a trend exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic, which has increased emotional and behavioral difficulties among young people. Bullying is now recognized as a significant public health issue, characterized by dynamics of peer victimization that frequently occur in school settings, leading to long-term psychological distress and relational difficulties (Davis et al., 2019). The aim of this initiative is to develop a practical and replicable handbook containing guidelines and activities based on the outcomes of previous interventions. This resource is designed to support psychologists, teachers, and other educational professionals in preventing and managing bullying incidents in secondary schools. The handbook will be published in open-access format by Sapienza University Press and disseminated through training events and workshops, which will be offered both at Sapienza and in interested schools. The initiative not only seeks to reduce the incidence of bullying but also aims to foster a more inclusive and safe school environment, promoting a learning climate that values diversity and supports the psychological and social well-being of all students.
Financing obtained: € 12.000,00
Duration: 12 months
Contacts:madalina.grigore@uniroma1.it
Project: "COSTELLAZIONI DI CURA IN ACCOGLIENZA. Sapienza and alternative care services for children, adolescents, and care leavers."
Coordinator: Prof. Marilena Fatigante
Working group: Prof. Francesca Alby, Dr. Elena Bocci, Prof. Eleonora Cannoni, Prof. Laura Cerrocchi, Dr. Osvaldo Costantini, Prof. Anna Di Norcia, Prof. Marilena Fatigante, Prof. Ankica Kosic, Prof. Stefano Livi, Dr. Paola Passafaro, Dr. Franca Rossi, Prof. Alessandro Sanzo, Prof. Patrizia Sposetti, Dr. Irene Stanzione, Prof. Giordana Szpunar, Prof. Cristina Zucchermaglio
Abstract: the initiative involves internal structures at Sapienza (LINC Laboratory and School of Specialization in Life Cycle Psychotherapy) together with external bodies operating in the field of social services and of alternative care in Lazio (Social Workers' Association - Lazio Regional Council; National Coordination of Family-Type Communities for Minors - ETS; Agevolando OdV Association; Civicozero soccoop soc Onlus) and aims to: inform and raise awareness among citizens and the Sapienza community about alternative care services for children, adolescents and care leavers, with particular reference to carework aimed at specific needs and rights; promote initiatives for discussion among experts in alternative care services for children, adolescents and care leavers; strengthen interdisciplinary and interprofessional networking, with particular reference to collaboration between educators and social workers from public and private services; promote dissemination actions of the actions and results of the project. The project is divided into numerous activities in the Lazio Region. In particular, the project aims to organize seminars on alternative care services, create visual installations on reception; organize a scientific conference on the well-being of operators in the field; build supervision and interprofessional training to strengthen networking between educators and social workers.
Funding obtained: € 12,000.00
Duration: 24 months
Contacts:marilena.fatigante@uniroma1.it
Project "Limen Project: crossing borders. Intercultural communication and training initiatives aimed at citizens, young people (natives and migrants), professionals in aid relations"
Coordinator: Prof. Francesca Alby
Working group: Prof. Roberto Baiocco, Prof. Eleonora Cannoni, Dr. Barbara Caravale, Prof. Anna Di Norcia, Prof. Marilena Fatigante, Prof. Francesca Federico, Prof. Mauro Giacomantonio, Prof. Fiorenzo Laghi, Dr. Jessica Pistella, Dr. Marzia Saglietti, Dr. Stefania Sette, Prof. Cristina Zucchermaglio.
Abstract: In a historical moment characterized by strong contrasts, geopolitical tensions, nationalism and extremism, it is more important than ever to undertake a reflection on identities and cultural differences that allows us to face current and future challenges appropriately. In the multicultural societies in which we live we must develop an intercultural outlook, overcome the distinction between 'us' and 'them', train ourselves and others in mutual respect, and find practices of effective intercultural collaboration. The project intends to contribute to this undertaking by promoting the following actions: information and awareness raising on the themes of interculture and ethno-psychology aimed at young people and citizens; reflective interdisciplinary and interprofessional training on topics related to the care relationship aimed at professionals who work in an intercultural field and professionals in helping relationships; targeted interventions regarding learning difficulties and school inclusion for young migrants and unaccompanied foreign minors; monitoring and dissemination of results and good intervention practices. The project has a strong value of social transformation and cultural innovation as it invites us to undertake a path of cultural decentralization, through the construction of spaces for exchange and shared narrative, the dissemination of knowledge, empowerment interventions
Financing obtained: €10,000.00
Duration: 24 months
Contacts:francesca.alby@uniroma1.it
The videos of the project can be viewed at the following link for the first part, and at the following link for the second part.
We inform you that starting from the month of October a cycle of interprofessional training meetings will take place, aimed at helping relations professionals who work in an intercultural field. The meetings will take place in the Ezio Ponzo Room from 09.00 to 12.00 on 23 October 2023, 14 November 2023, 11 December 2023, 17 January 2024 and 12 February 2024. The activity is part of the Terza project Prof. Francesca Alby is the scientific director of the mission.
Project "Women victims of trafficking: Promoting social inclusion"
Coordinator: Ankica Kosic
Working group: Prof. Claudia Chiarolanza, Dr. Elena Bocci, Prof. Francesca Alby, Prof. Marilena Fatigante, Dr. Paola Passafaro.
Abstract: The failure of the migratory project of a person who is a victim of trafficking influences her psychological identity. When migration from the country of origin coincides with both the detachment from one's own cultural context and the "betrayal" of expectations by the country of arrival (due to the exploitation of the woman for sexual purposes), a "de-contextualization" is created in the person ”, which is difficult to manage both for the victim and for the community workers from the public and private sectors who welcome the person to begin a path of care and rehabilitation with them. The project set itself the following objectives: education and dissemination of information among Sapienza students and researchers on issues concerning women victims of trafficking in Italy and on the contents of the project; education and dissemination of information on topics relating to ethno-psychology and contemporary ethno-psychiatry and vicarious traumatization to Sapienza students and researchers; promotion of initiatives to support professionals who work in reception centers for victims of trafficking and refugees to learn to manage stress and prevent vicarious trauma and burnout; promoting empowerment and resilience in women victims of trafficking; raising awareness on the topic. It is possible to participate in the free Mindfulness course, aimed at those who work in reception centers and other structures.
Financing obtained: €9,000.00
Duration: 24 months
Contacts: anna.kosic@uniroma1.it
Project "Families: typical, atypical and intergenerational paths"
Coordinator: Anna Di Norcia
Working group: Prof. Roberto Baiocco, Dr. Elena Bocci, Prof. Eleonora Cannoni, Dr. Paola Passafaro, Prof. Giordana Szpunar.
Abstract: The project has the objective of organizing information events to accompany parents and families in the developmental paths from school age to adolescence, including from a transgenerational perspective. It focuses, on the one hand, on addressing some difficult challenges to parenting, such as issues related to behavior, emotional development, the specifics of cognitive development and the development of a non-conforming sexual orientation and/or gender identityof one's son or daughter; on the other hand, it proposed a path to encourage intergenerational exchanges within the family, also contributing to the strengthening of networks capable of supporting projects suitable for the social and cultural development of the host contexts.
Financing obtained: €8,500.00
Duration: 24 months
Contacts:anna.dinorcia@uniroma1.it