Carolina Facioni

According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, cultural participation is not a homogeneous social phenomenon among Italian population, and so is for life satisfaction’s data. High levels of cultural participation can be viewed  as a sensible indicator of a good quality of life. but Italian data show that high levels of cultural participation are not necessarily positively correlated with high levels of life satisfaction. Indeed a good level of life satisfaction could be also influenced by other social factors, not directly related to cultural participation, factors that  can be more grateful for people less involved in cultural activities. The aim of the present work is to explore possible patterns of relationships between the dimensions of life satisfaction and cultural participation, trying to highlight possible emerging differences within the various social and territorial Italian contexts. The relationships between the dimensions of cultural participation and life satisfaction will be analyzed also in a gender and generation perspective, so as to underline the differences due to different life-styles and opportunities. Logit models will be used to explore such relationships. The dimensions of cultural participation and of life satisfaction will be described using data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics, and in particular indicators from the BES 2013 (Sustainable and Equal Well-being 2013) and Multipurpose Survey on Aspects of Everyday Life 2013.

This work aims to focus on the absolute need that the world has today of Futures Studies. Thanks to this discipline’s historical and methodological specificities in human sciences’ context, Futures Studies can help humankind to manage the critical issues that are threatening it. The topic will be discussed through an exclusively theoretical approach, also describing the Italian contribution to Futures Studies: e.g., Eleonora Barbieri Masini’s work, or Aurelio Peccei’s, who (as early as the 1960s) was among the first to emphasize (in a complex approach) the risks the Earth would run. Nowadays, the delay in the actions that could have been taken many years ago places the world in front of previously unthinkable scenarios. New migrations caused by climate changes, possible criticalities due to the lack of demographic balance in the world population, our own survival as a living species at risk. In this sense, the new challenges that Futures Studies have to face are both socio-cultural ...

This work aims to enhance the contribution of Aurelio Peccei to Futures Studies and its unaltered relevance in the light of the world’s current scientific issues. Peccei’s contribution in Futures Studies is often identified with his propulsive role in the birth of the Club of Rome (1968) and in the promotion of the report “The Limits to Growth” (1972). Although this would be enough to make him a central figure in the history of Futures Studies, his whole intellectual journey is worth emphasizing. This work focuses on the “epistemic impact” of Peccei in the field research on possible futures. Peccei not only argued the fundamental need to translate complexity into a forecasting model: as an ante litteram anticipator, he dedicated his life to seek a development model respecting both the human tendency towards constant evolution and biosphere. A theoretical impact that allowed many fundamental UN initiatives—from the 1987 Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development to...

The aim of the paper is to show how the variety of approaches to study social change may result in a challenging complexity for the social scientist, starting from the difficulty of defining the concept of "change" itself and managing it through observed data. This is particularly true in presence of complex phenomena, such as those defining and composing the quality of life. What should be pointed out is that quality of life studies not only are focused on the present time but have also long term perspectives. This represents the link between studies on quality of life and forecasting. When applied to the field of quality of life, the typical logical approach to forecasts, based upon inferential statistics, could reveal its limits. Those limits are related to different aspects: e.g., the forms of relationships between different aspects of the phenomenon, which can be linear and non-linear; the dimensionality of phenomenon, which can turn out to be very complex; the causal...

The work focuses the relationship between well-being and Italian lifestyle related to food, as it emerges from the National Institute of Statistics’ data. The work highlights how the official statistics can help both common citizens and decision-makers to better understand the current state of eating habits in our country. There were used different approaches to data analysis, both using time series analysis about the body mass index distribution and also a gender and generation approach. Multidimensional data analysis – in particular, the dynamic factor analysis – was used to better highlight some possible criticalities related to food habits in Italy and the citizens’ well-being. The results inspired some reflections: first of all, that food habits cannot be only considered a simple life domain. It’s a complex aspect with political implications. Food not only concerns the individual’s well-being: it involves both the society and the environment’s well-being as a whole.

According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, cultural participation is not a homogeneous social phenomenon among Italian population, and so is for life satisfaction’s data. High levels of cultural participation can be viewed  as a sensible indicator of a good quality of life. but Italian data show that high levels of cultural participation are not necessarily positively correlated with high levels of life satisfaction. Indeed a good level of life satisfaction could be also influenced by other social factors, not directly related to cultural participation, factors that  can be more grateful for people less involved in cultural activities. The aim of the present work is to explore possible patterns of relationships between the dimensions of life satisfaction and cultural participation, trying to highlight possible emerging differences within the various social and territorial Italian contexts. The relationships between the dimensions of cultural participation and life satisfaction will be analyzed also in a gender and generation perspective, so as to underline the differences due to different life-styles and opportunities. Logit models will be used to explore such relationships. The dimensions of cultural participation and of life satisfaction will be described using data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics, and in particular indicators from the BES 2013 (Sustainable and Equal Well-being 2013) and Multipurpose Survey on Aspects of Everyday Life 2013.

The work analyses the impact of risk perception (in terms of safety) and confidence (in other people, in institutions, etc.) on Italian citizens’ life satisfaction. Considering the impact of human relationships on everyone’s life, the dimension of life satisfaction has to be conceived as strictly related to social capital. So, the analysis will explore the complex relationship between life satisfaction, lifestyle, and social capital, under a territorial, gender, and age cohort outlook. The attitudes about risk perception and confidence will be related to the identified levels of life satisfaction. The analysis is based on data from the Istat Survey on Aspects of Everyday Life 2011 and also on data from the 2008-09 wave of the Istat Citizens’ Safety survey.