Intergroup contact interventions have been mostly used to foster empathy, promote positive relations, and reduce prejudice and discrimination. However, less is known about the potential of intergroup contact, especially digital, in interventions designed to hinder hate speech and promote counter‐speech. Counter‐speech can be defined as a direct response to hate speech, aimed at refuting or undermining it. This study argues that the quality of intergroup contact may foster counter‐speech responses through empathy for hate speech victims. For this purpose, an ad hoc conversational storytelling web‐app module, named “Let's Make the Difference!”, was developed and administered to a sample of 433 Italian adolescents (278 in the experimental group and 155 in the control group, M_age = 14.33). Through the web‐app, adolescents engaged in a chat with an outgroup avatar, inducing digital intergroup contact. Results show a significant increase in counter‐speech intentions between the pre‐test and post‐test in the experimental condition, unlike in the control group. Moreover, in line with our hypotheses, the quality of contact induced with the conversational agent increased empathy toward the victim, which in turn increased the intention to counter hate speech in the intervention group. In light of these results on digital contact, both theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This study addresses the issue of adolescents' susceptibility to racial misinformation, testing a socio‐analytical intervention within an educational community through the inducement of analytical processing of misleading news on one side, and mediated contact on the other. Rolling Minds web app has been designed to implement a hybrid schools intervention thanks to which classmates engage with conversational agents, guiding them in deconstructing racial stereotypes, reframing misleading narratives and empathizing with immigrants' point of view. All the intervention activities aim to enhance intergroup contact. For this purpose, in this study, which involved 208 young participants (mean age 14.65; SD = 0.74), we pursued two research objectives. Firstly, by employing a person‐centred approach, our first research question (RQ1) is to identify subgroups of adolescents based on their propensity to engage in analytical reasoning, stereotypical beliefs and self‐transcendence values, finding different vulnerability clusters to racial misinformation. In relation to the emerging profiles, their reactions to the misleading news were initially observed (ie, sharing and fact‐checking). Secondly, regarding the second research question (RQ2), through path analysis we aim to understand whether and how adolescents characterized by different profiles vary in performing activities of socio‐analytical intervention aimed at enhancing contact intentions. These results can guide the development of tailored hybrid educational strategies to engage young people in approaching racial online misinformation in a more reflective and unbiased manner, considering the adolescents' individual differences in vulnerability to racial hoaxes.

Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) represent an important resource for promoting the energy transition through participative forms of governance. Focusing on communicative processes is crucial for the success of RECs, since effective communication can promote citizens’ engagement and participation in these projects. This systematic review aims to investigate communication within the RECs, exploring the main communicative strategies and channels, as well as the main actors involved in communicative processes. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we screened two databases (Scopus; Web of Science), analyzed the resulting sample ( n = 886 records), and selected 9 papers that met the eligibility criteria. The findings emphasize the importance of a clear and transparent communication style that is understandable to all community members, and the critical role of local leaders in promoting community engagement by acting as a bridge between community members, institutions, and experts. RECs’ communicative processes differ depending on the target audience and the project’s development stage, implying the need for a deep investigation of phases and peculiarities to design successful communication strategies. This paper provides a systematic overview of the current state of RECs’ communicative processes in research, highlighting an important gap in the current literature. Further research should be conducted on this topic, focusing on how RECs should adjust communication depending on community features and project stages, what channels and contents are particularly effective, how practices of RECs are narrated within their communities, and how these narratives can strengthen citizens’ participation.

The recent literature highlights the importance of implementing ad hoc media literacy initiatives to counter sexist stereotypical representations in social media, particularly within the political field. To this end, the present study focuses on false and misleading contents (information disorders) about female politicians, since they can reflect gender stereotypes, portraying women as unfit for political roles. Thus, our exploratory study aims to analyze the stereotype content of information disorders targeting Italian female politicians, following classic models of stereotype content. Furthermore, it seeks to explore the role played by the type of information disorder and the political orientation of the targeted leaders. A database of 120 information disorders have been collected, codified, and analyzed. The results highlight that information disorders predominantly target the dimension of communion. Focusing on the types of information disorders, fabricated and misleading content appears to be associated with the professional and private life domains, primarily conveying communion-based stereotypical representations of politicians. Satirical and parodic contents, on the other hand, were associated with the esthetic domain, conveying agency-based stereotypical representations, with a particular focus on politicians’ physical competence. Regarding political orientation, a “Stereotyping from my eyes” effect was observed: communion-based stereotypical content prevails in information disorders targeting conservative leaders, while progressive leaders are stereotyped concerning the agency dimension. This effect may reveal a difference between conservative and progressive audiences in their adherence to traditional gender roles.

Online mothering is an arising and multifaceted phenomenon as the online world offers unique opportunities and risks in a particularly challenging period. The overall aim of this work is to investigate the features of the hashtag movement #itcouldbeme, which was born after a terrible news event concerning a newborn’s death, specifically concerning (a) the e-activation levels; (b) the emotional arousal; (c) the potential presence of deconstruction of stereotypes concerning intensive mothering. To investigate positioning, reactions, and emotions, a database of 394 online posts gathered from popular Italian social networks was created, manually codified, and analyzed through the chi-square test. The results enabled us to deepen the associations among these variables, thus revealing the opportunities for empowerment offered by the socio-cultural positioning, different emotional pathways, and adhesion to this online movement. Finally, implications for professionals and public health issues are discussed.