The Cassandra Experience: A Mixed Methods Study on the Intragroup Cognitive Dissonance of Italian Expatriates During the First Wave of COVID-19

In March 2020, Italy was the first European country to be hit severely by the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to put in place moderate-high containment measures. 594 Italian expatriates participated in a cross-sectional mixed-methods survey focusing on the period that goes from the beginning of March 2020 to the beginning of April 2020. The survey aimed to describe the experiences of participants when it comes to conflicting beliefs and behavior with the Italian or host country communities in relation to COVID-19, using the Intragroup Cognitive Dissonance (ICD) framework. We explored: (1) COVID-19 risk perception (assessed for themselves, the Italian community, and the host country community); (2) COVID-19 risk meta-perception (participants’ perception of the Italian and host country communities’ risk perception); (3) intensity of emotions (assessed for themselves); (4) national group identification (assessed for themselves in relation to the Italian and host country communities) before and after the first wave of COVID-19 in Italy. An inductive thematic analysis of three open-ended questions allowed an in-depth understanding of the experiences of Italian expatriates. Results describe the ICD of participants with the Italian or host country communities, expressed as a difference between COVID-19 risk-perception and risk meta-perception. ICD predicts that when a dissonance of beliefs and behavior is experienced within an individual’s group, a shift in identification with another more consonant group will happen, if identity enhancing strategies with the dissonant group are unsuccessful. Our findings showed that when the ICD was experienced with the host country community, this was solved through a disidentification strategy and mediated by negative emotions. Identity enhancing strategies with the host country community were unsuccessfully enacted as described by the qualitative answers of participants referring to episodes of racism, ridicule, and to a Cassandra experience: predicting a catastrophic future without being believed. Unexpectedly, participants experiencing the ICD with the Italian community did not enact a disidentification strategy. An increase in virtual contacts, enhanced sense of belonging, a stronger identification baseline, and different features of the two ICDs can be responsible for these results. This study sheds light on the relevance of ICD in natural settings and on international communities, during global crises.

Una rappresentazione diplomatica e di parte: il ritratto (geo)letterario della Tunisi di Guglielmo Collotti (1876)

The paper aims to retrace the (geo)-literary portrait of the city of Tunis by analysing the work Tunisi e il suo popolo. Studi impressioni e ricordi (Tunis and its people. Studies, impressions and memories), written by Guglielmo Collotti and published in Catania in 1876. This work is a travel report of a journey planned by Collotti with the excuse of presenting a “philanthropic” award to the sovereign of the Regency of Tunis. In fact, it gave the Sicilian nobleman the opportunity to visit the places inhabited by a large Italian community. The epistemological approach being adopted in the study, which is a geographical one, takes into consideration the historical and cultural context in which the author’s political beliefs developed: his interpretation of the landscape and the places he describes mirrors his choice of sometimes favouring colonial propaganda “Occidental” over the narration of events.

Dermatitis in community pharmacies: a survey on italian pharmacists’ management and implications on corticophobia

Community pharmacists represent an important resource for the promotion of a safer and more effective self-management of common skin diseases, as well as the provision of educational support on therapies prescribed by clinicians, ultimately improving patients’ adherence. In this study, a semi-structured survey was administered to 154 Italian community pharmacists, in order to acquire information on their counseling activity on dermatological disorders. Collected data provide an overview on the frequency and methodology of counseling offered in Italian community pharmacies, identifying knowledge gaps and misbeliefs. In particular, an overall negative opinion on topical corticosteroid therapy emerged among pharmacists, unveiling a phenomenon previously described as corticophobia. Starting from this observation, we discuss the risks for patients’ adherence, associated with corticophobia among pharmacists. Lastly, we briefly report on the main tools desired by pharmacists to improve their education on dermatology, envisioning their implementation with the aim of a more effective counseling.

Colonial Past in Italian Relations with the Former African Colonies

The subject of article is influence of the colonial past on the relations of former metropole, namely Italy, with its former colonies in Africa. The question is considered in the context of the fact that the British, French or even Portuguese colonialisms definitely left interstate entities. In other words, they continue to considerably influence the relations with their former African colonies. Italian one, in its turn, left nothing like the Commonwealth of Nations, the International Organisation of La Francophonie or the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. However, by 2021 even in relations with each individual former colony of Rome in Africa (Eritrea, Somalia and Libya), it was replaced by the current agenda. Only in the case of Eritrea, which emerged as a result of Italian rule, there is probability, that in the nearest future the colonial past will affect its relations with Italy. Somalia, and especially Libya, which had been a reminder of the need to repair colonial damage for more than half a century, ceased to exist as single states. As a result, the long-ended colonialism ceased to be vital for their relations with the former metropole in a positive and negative way. Moreover, the author highlights that for any former colony, not only in Africa, or a country with big Italian community, Rome did nothing comparable with at least the Dutch Language Union. It means, that the elimination of any trace of Italian colonialism from international affairs is related not only to its weakness, but also to the lack of efforts made by modern Italy.