The COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis that requires individuals to comply with many health-protective behaviors. Following the previous literature, cultural tightness has been found to be a key mechanism to increase coordination in order to mitigate collective threats (e.g., COVID-19). In this study, we test a moderated mediation model to examine whether the perceived COVID-19 threat could intensify the extent of desired tightness (i.e., a personal desire for cultural tightness), moderated by age. Subsequently, we test whether this could intensify individuals’ emotional reactions to non-compliance with COVID-19 health protective behaviors. The study relies on a cross-sectional design, with a sample of 624 participants residing in central Italy (i.e., Lazio). The data were collected from February to October 2021. Questionnaires contained self-reporting measures of the perceived COVID-19 threat, desired tightness, and personal emotional reactions to non-compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures (e.g., wearing a mask). The results confirm that the perceived COVID-19 threat is associated with an increase in the desire for cultural tightness—and that this relationship was moderated by age—and, consequently, with intolerance for noncompliance with preventive behaviors. Additionally, both direct and indirect effects of the perceived COVID-19 threat on negative emotional reactions to noncompliance were significant; this indirect effect was larger at high (+1 SD) age than at low (−1 SD) age. Overall, this research provides some insight into how people can respond to the current pandemic threat, and how this may have implications for violating rules and regulations to keep contagion under control.

In recent decades, a new line of research has found associations between specific individual differences with prejudice against female leaders. In three studies collected in Italy with heterogeneous samples (Total N = 391), we investigated the relationship between self-reported need for cognitive closure (NCC) and attitudes towards women as managers. In Study 1a we used a sample of Italian students and hypothesized that higher NCC is associated with more negative attitudes towards women managers and that this relationship is mediated by benevolence, but not by hostility, towards men. In Study 1b we used a sample of Italian employees and hypothesized that employees with higher NCC had less (vs. more) negative attitudes towards women managers when they had a female (vs. male) superior. In Study 2 we tested the model including both mediators and moderator from the previous two preliminary studies on a sample of Italian employees. The findings support the hypotheses. Our work increases knowledge about the individual-level antecedents of prejudice against women managers, as well as the conditions under which it can be reduced.

The present study investigated the effects of the first COVID-19 lockdown on the Cultural and Social Capitals in Italy in a large group of adults (n = 1125). The relationships between the COVID-19 spread and participants’ Cultural Capital, Social Capital, educational level, occupational prestige, and age were studied using structural equation models. For women but not for men, pandemic spread was positively affected by occupational prestige and it had a positive relationship with their Social Capital (women: CFI = 0.949; RMSEA = 0.059 [CI = 0.045-0.075]; men: CFI = 0.959; RMSEA = 0.064 [CI = 0.039–0.087]). Moreover, the participants were divided into three validated clusters based on their Cultural and Social Capitals levels to investigate changes in the Capitals compared with the pre-lockdown period. It was found that the lockdown contributed to improving the gap among individuals increasing high levels and decreasing low levels of both the Capitals. People with high Cultural and Social Capitals seemed to have seized the opportunity given by COVID-19 restrictions to cultivate their cultural interests and become more involved within their networks. In contrast, individuals with low Cultural and Social Capitals paid the highest price for the social isolation. Given that the Capitals encourage healthy behavior and influence well-being and mental health, institutions should develop or improve their policies and practices to foster individual resources, and make fairer opportunities available during the pandemic.

In line with Significance Quest Theory (SQT, Kruglanski et al., 2022) and Costly Signaling Theory (CST, Zahavi, 1995), the present research aims to investigate the relationship between individual differences in ambition and support for costly (in terms of investment of personal resources) aid programs. Consistent with SQT, which holds that the quest for significance is a universal need that may lead to any type (e.g., violent or prosocial) of extreme behavior in order to satisfy it, we hypothesized that ambitious (vs. less ambitious) people are more motivated to engage in resource-intensive aid programs. In four studies (Total N = 744), both correlational (Studies 1 and 4) and experimental (Studies 2 and 3), we found a significant positive relationship between levels of ambition and support for resource-intensive aid programs; this relationship was mediated by difficulty perceived as important, i.e., the attribution of high value to difficult tasks and goals (Study 4).

Adaptive behavior comprises conceptual, social, and practical skills that individuals learn and express in their daily lives. Understanding the contextual factors that influence the development of adaptive behavior is crucial for the well-being of children. Using path analysis, we cross-sectionally examined the relations between Vineland-II adaptive behavior of Italian girls (n = 156) and boys (n = 149) aged 3–14 and parental sociocultural dimensions (socioeconomic status, cultural capital, social capital) with attended school year as a moderator. Mothers’ sociocultural level showed numerous and generally positive relations with their children’s adaptive behavior, whereas fathers’ sociocultural level exhibited fewer and more mixed relations. Furthermore, school year attended had direct negative effects on adaptive behavior and generally moderated in a positive or mixed way the relationships between parents’ sociocultural level and daughters’ and sons’ adaptive behavior, respectively. Policymakers should be aware of the relations between parental sociocultural level and their offspring’s adaptive behavior.