Individual and community-related paths to civic engagement: A multiple mediation model deepening the role of sense of responsible togetherness, community trust, and hope


Abstract


Civic engagement behaviors (CEB) refer to the activation of citizens’ resources to face community problems. However, modern local communities are characterized by lower rates of civic engagement, especially among youths. Therefore, this study deepens the role of some individual and community-related assets which could foster citizens’ CEB. It specifically addresses two research questions: (a) which are the social roots of citizens’ feelings of Hope, and (b) what role citizens’ Sense of Responsible Togetherness (SoRT), Community Trust, and Hope play as to their CEB. An online questionnaire was administered to 486 Italian citizens aged between 18 and 30. A multiple mediation model was run with Structural Equation Modelling to test the role of Hope as a mediator in the relationships of SoRT and Community Trust with CEB. The results confirmed all the hypotheses, supporting both (a) the social roots of Hope and (b) its role as a mediator in the considered relationships between community-related assets and CEB. Overall, relying on positive representations of how to live together in one’s community and how the latter is able to meet its members’ needs showed a critical role as to citizens’ civic engagement, both directly and via an enhanced feeling of Hope. This provides Institutions and stakeholders with hints about the dimensions of communities to be fostered and strengthened in order to counteract the pessimistic visions and the lack of civic engagement now characterizing them.


DOI Code: 10.1285/i24212113v9i1p64

Keywords: Civic Engagement; Hope; Sense of Responsible Togetherness (SoRT); Community Trust; local community

References


Amnå, E., & Ekman, J. (2014). Standby citizens: diverse faces of political passivity. European Political Science Review, 6(2), 261-281. https://doi.org/10.1017/S175577391300009X

Arcidiacono, C., Di Napoli, I., & Sarnacchiaro, P. (2007). Puddifoot community identity and juvenile community action orientation. In A. Bokszczanin (Ed.), Social change in solidarity: Community psychology perspectives and approaches (pp.93-108). Opole University Press.

Arcidiacono, C., Procentese, F., & Baldi, S. (2010). Participatory planning and community development: An E-learning training program. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 38(1), 70-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852350903393475

Aspinwall, L. G., & Leaf, S. L. (2002). In search of the unique aspects of hope: Pinning our hopes on positive emotions, future-oriented thinking, hard times, and other people. Psychological Inquiry, 13(4), 276-288.

Bailey, T. C., Eng, W., Frisch, M. B., & Snyder. C. R. (2007). Hope and optimism as related to life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2(3), 168-175. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760701409546

Bowling A. (2005). Just one question: if one question works, why ask several? Journal of Epidemiology Community Health, 59(5), 342-348. http://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2004.021204

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The Ecology and Human Development. Harvard Press.

Bronk, K. C., Hill, P. L., Lapsley, D. K., Talib, T. L., & Finch, H. (2009). Purpose, hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(6), 500-510. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760903271439

Callina, K. S., Johnson, S. K., Buckingham, M. H., & Lerner, R. M. (2014). Hope in context: Developmental profiles of trust, hopeful future expectations, and civic engagement across adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(6), 869-883. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0096-9

Carbone, A., Di Napoli, I., Procentese, F., & Arcidiacono, C. (2021). Close family bonds and community distrust. The complex emotional experience of a young generation from southern Italy. Journal of Youth Studies, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2021.1939283

Ciarrochi, J., Heaven, P. C. L., & Davies, F. (2007). The impact of hope, self-esteem, and attributional style on adolescents’ school grades and emotional well-being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 1161–1178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2007.02.001

Coffman, D. L., & MacCallum, R. C. (2005). Using parcels to convert path analysis models into latent variable models. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 40(2), 235-259. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327906mbr4002_4

Compare, C., Prati, G., Guarino, A., Gatti, F., Procentese, F., Fedi, A., Aresi, G., Gattino, S., Marzana, D., Tzankova, I., & Albanesi, C. (2021). Predictors of prosocial behavior during the COVID-19 national quarantine in Italy. Community Psychology in Global Perspective, 7(2), 22-38. https://doi.org/10.1285/i24212113v7i2p22

Cousineau, D., & Chartier, S. (2010). Outliers detection and treatment: a review. International Journal of Psychological Research, 3(1), 58-67. http://doi.org/10.21500/20112084.844

Craney, T. A., & Surles, J. G. (2002). Model-dependent variance inflation factor cutoff values. Quality Engineering, 14(3), 391–403. https://doi.org/10.1081/QEN-120001878

Dahl, V., Amnå, E., Banaji, S., Landberg, M., Šerek, J., Ribeiro, N., ... & Zani, B. (2018). Apathy or alienation? Political passivity among youths across eight European Union countries. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 15(3), 284-301. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405629.2017.1404985

Di Maria, F. (2000) (ed.). Psicologia della convivenza. Soggettività e socialità. Franco Angeli.

Di Napoli, I., Dolce, P., & Arcidiacono, C. (2019a). Community trust: A social indicator related to community Engagement. Social Indicators Research, 145, 551–579. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02114-y

Di Napoli, I., Esposito, C., Candice, L., & Arcidiacono, C. (2019b). Trust, hope, and identity in disadvantaged urban areas. The role of civic engagement in the Sanità district (Naples), Journal of Community Psychology in Global Perspective, 5(2), 46-62. https://doi.org/10.1285/i24212113v5i2p46

Di Napoli, I., Guidi, E., Arcidiacono, C., Esposito, C., Marta, E., Novara, C., Procentese, F., Guazzini, A., Agueli, B., Gonzales Leone, F., Meringolo, P., & Marzana, D. (2021). Italian community psychology in the Covid 19 Pandemic: Collective dimensions in storytelling of University students. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 571257. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.571257

Di Napoli, I., Scioli, A., & Arcidiacono, C. (2022). Introduction. Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 50(4), 337-343. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2021.1935194

Diller, E. C. (2001). Citizens in service: The challenge of delivering civic engagement training to national service programs. Corporation for National and Community Service.

Doolittle, A., & Faul, A. C. (2013). Civic engagement scale: A validation study. Sage Open, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013495542

Ehrlich, T. (1997). Civic learning: Democracy and education revisited. Educational Record, 78(3/4), 57-65.

Feldman, D. B., Davidson, O. B., Ben ‐ Naim, S., Maza, E., & Margalit, M. (2016). Hope as a mediator of loneliness and academic self ‐ efficacy among students with and without learning disabilities during the transition to college. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 31(2), 63-74. https://doi.org/10.1111/ldrp.12094

Flanagan, C. A., Syversten, A. K., & Stout, M. D. (2007). Civic measurement models: Tapping adolescents’ civic engagement. CIRCLE Working Paper, 55. CIRCLE.

Flanagan, C., & Levine, P. (2010). Civic Engagement and the Transition to Adulthood. The Future of Children, 20(1), 159-179.

Gallup International Association (2018). Hope & optimism on global peace. Gallup International’s 42nd Annual Global End of Year Survey. Available at http://puntodincontro.mx/pdf/rapportogallupinternational.pdf

Gatti, F., & Procentese, F. (2020). Open Neighborhoods, sense of community, and instagram use: Disentangling modern local community experience through a multilevel path analysis with a multiple informant approach. TPM – Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 27(3), 313-329. https://doi.org/10.4473/TPM27.3.2

Gatti, F., & Procentese, F. (2021). Local community experience as an anchor sustaining reorientation processes during COVID-19 Pandemic. Sustainability, 13(8), 4385. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084385

Gattino, S., Rizzo, M., Gatti, F., Compare, C., Procentese, F., Guarino, A., Di Napoli, I., Barbieri, I., Fedi, A., Aresi, G., Marta, E., Marzana, D., Prati, G., Rochira, A., Tzankova, I., Albanesi, C. (2022). COVID-19 in our lives: Sense of community, sense of community responsibility, and reflexivity in present concerns and perception of the future. Journal of Community Psychology, 50(5), 2344-2365. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22780

Gordon, E., Baldwin-Philippi, J., & Balestra, M. (2013). Why we engage: How theories of human behavior contribute to our understanding of civic engagement in a digital era. Berkman Center Research Publication, 21, 1-29. http://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2343762

Halama, P. (2010). Hope as a mediator between personality traits and life satisfaction. Studia Psychologica, 52(4), 309.

Hayes, A. F. (2018). Partial, conditional, and moderated moderated mediation: Quantification, inference, and interpretation. Communication monographs, 85(1), 4-40. http://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2017.1352100

Heinz, W. R. (2009). Youth transitions in an age of uncertainty. Handbook of youth and young adulthood: New perspectives and agendas (pp. 3-13).

Henn, M., Weinstein, M., & Forrest, S. (2005). Uninterested youth? Young people’s attitudes towards party politics in Britain. Political studies, 53(3), 556-578. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2005.00544.x

Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural equation modeling: a multidisciplinary journal, 6(1), 1-55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

Huber, S., Rattinger, H., & Steinbrecher, M. (2007). Turnout in Germany: Citizen participation in state, federal & European elections since 1979. Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos.

Hyman, J. B. (2002). Exploring social capital and civic engagement to create a framework for community building. Applied developmental science, 6(4), 196-202. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532480XADS0604_6

ISTAT [Istituto Nazionale di Statistica] (2020). La partecipazione politica in Italia. Available at https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/244843

Jachimowicz, J. M., Chafik, S., Munrat, S., Prabhu, J. C., & Weber, E. U. (2017). Community trust reduces myopic decisions of low-income individuals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(21), 5401-5406.

Kelly, J. G. (2006). Becoming ecological: An expedition into community psychology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195173796.001.0001

Leccardi, C. (2005). Facing uncertainty: temporality and biographies in the new century. Young, 13(2), 123-146. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1103308805051317

Leccardi, C. (2009). Sociologie del tempo [Sociologies of time]. Roma-Bari: Laterza.

Levy, S. (2020). A review of character strenghts interventions in 21st Century. Their importance and how they can be fostered. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 15, 573-596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-018-9700-6

Little, T. D., Cunningham, W. A., Shahar, G., & Widaman, K. F. (2002). To parcel or not to parcel: Exploring the question, weighing the merits. Structural equation modeling, 9(2), 151-173. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0902_1

Little, T. D., Rhemtulla, M., Gibson, K., & Schoemann, A. M. (2013). Why the items versus parcels controversy needn’t be one. Psychological Methods, 18(3), 285-300. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0033266

Luhmann, N. (1982). The world society as a social system. International Journal of General Systems, 8 (3), 131-138. https://doi.org/10.1080/03081078208547442

MacCallum, R. C., & Austin, J. T. (2000). Applications of structural equation modeling in psychological research. Annual review of psychology, 51(1), 201-226. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.201

Magnano, P., Di Nuovo, S., Scioli, A., & Di Corrado, D. (2019). A study of the Comprehensive State Hope Scale in Italian culture. TPM: Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 26(2). https://doi.org/10.4473/TPM26.2.8

Mahoney, J., Vandell, D. L., Simpkins, S., & Zarrett, N. (2009). Adolescent out-of-school time activities. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology: Vol. 2. Contextual influences on adolescent development (3rd ed., pp. 228−269). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Marta., E., Pozzi, M., & Marzana, D. (2010). Volunteers and ex-volunteers. Paths to civic engagement through volunteerism. Psycké, 19(2),5-17. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-2228201000020000194

McMillan, D. W. (2011). Sense of community, a theory not a value: A response to Nowell and Boyd. Journal of Community Psychology, 39(5), 507–519. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20439

Mieriņa, I. (2014). The Vicious Circle: Does disappointment with political authorities contribute to political passivity in Latvia? European Societies, 16(4), 615-637. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2012.749414

Morselli, D. (2017). Contextual determinants of hopelessness: Investigating socioeconomic factors and emotional climates. Social Indicators Research, 133(1), 373-393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1346-x

Newton, K. (2007). Social and political trust. In R. Dalton & H.-D. Klingemann (Eds.), Oxford handbook of political behavior (pp. 342-361). Oxford University Press.

Norris, P. (2002). Democratic phoenix: Reinventing political activism. Cambridge University Press.

Procentese, F., & Gatti, F. (2019). Senso di Convivenza Responsabile: Quale Ruolo nella Relazione tra Partecipazione e Benessere Sociale? Psicologia Sociale, 14(3), 405-426. https://doi.org/10.1482/94942

Procentese, F., & Gatti, F. (2022). Sense of Responsible Togetherness, Sense of Community, and Civic Engagement Behaviors: Disentangling an Active and Engaged Citizenship. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 32(2), 186-197. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2566

Procentese, F., De Carlo, F., & Gatti, F. (2019a). Civic Engagement within the Local Community and Sense of Responsible Togetherness. TPM - Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 26(4), 513-525. https://doi.org/10.4473/TPM26.4.2

Procentese, F., Esposito, C., Gonzalez Leone, F., Agueli, B., Arcidiacono, C., Freda, M. F., & Di Napoli, I. (2021). Psychological lockdown experiences: downtime or an unexpected time for being? Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 577089. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.577089

Procentese, F., Gargiulo, A., & Gatti, F. (2020). Local groups’ actions to develop a sense of responsible togetherness. Psicologia di Comunità, 1/2020, 65-79. http://doi.org/10.3280/PSC2020-001005

Procentese, F., Gatti, F., & Ceglie, E. (2021). Sensemaking processes during the first months of COVID-19 pandemic: Using diaries to deepen how italian youths experienced lockdown measures. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), 12569. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182312569

Procentese, F., Gatti, F., & Falanga, A. (2019b). Sense of responsible togetherness, sense of community and participation: Looking at the relationships in a university campus. Human Affairs, 29(2), 247–263. https://doi.org/10.1515/humaff-2019-0020

Putnam, R. D. (1993). The prosperous community: Social capital and public life. The American prospect, 13 (4). 35-42

Putnam, R. D. (1995). Tuning in, tuning out: The strange disappearance of social capital in America. PS: Political science & politics, 28(4), 664-684.

Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. In Crothers L., Lockhart C. (eds), Culture and politics, pp. 223-234. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-62397-6_12

Rustøen, T., Cooper, B. A., & Miaskowski, C. (2010). The importance of hope as a mediator of psychological distress and life satisfaction in a community sample of cancer patients. Cancer Nursing, 33(4), 258-267. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCC.0b013e3181d6fb61

Schmid, K. L., & Lopez, S. (2011). Positive pathways to adulthood: The role of hope in adolescents’ constructions of their futures. In R. M. Lerner, J. V. Lerner, & J. B. Benson (Eds.), Advances in child development and behavior: Positive youth development (Vol. 41, pp. 72–89). Academic Press.

Scioli, A. (2020). The psychology of hope: A diagnostic and prescriptive account. In Historical and multidisciplinary perspectives on hope (pp. 137-163). Springer.

Scioli, A., & Biller, H. (2009). Hope in the age of anxiety. Oxford University Press.

Scioli, A., & Biller, H. (2010). The power of hope: Overcoming your most daunting life difficulties--no matter what. Health Communications, Inc.

Scioli, A., Ricci, M., Nyugen, T., & Scioli, E. R. (2011). Hope: Its nature and measurement. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 3(2), 78-97. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0020903

Snyder, C. R. (2000). Genesis: The birth and growth of hope. In C. R. Snyder (Ed.), Handbook of hope: Theory, measures, and applications (pp 25-38). Academic Press.

Snyder, C. R., Harris, C., Anderson, J. R., Holleran, S. A., Irving, L. M., Sigmon, S. T., ... & Harney, P. (1991). The will and the ways: development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(4), 570. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.60.4.570

Stoker, G. (2006). Why politics matters: Making democracy work. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave.

Talò, C. (2018) Community-based determinants of community engagement: A meta-analysis research. Social Indicator Research, 140, 571-596. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1778-y

Tekin, S., & Drury, J. (2021). Silent Walk as a street mobilization: Campaigning following the Grenfell Tower fire. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 31(4), 425-437. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2521

Tzankova, I., Prati, G., Eckstein, K., Noack, P., Amnå, E., Motti-Stefanidi, F., ... & Cicognani, E. (2020). Adolescents’ patterns of citizenship orientations and correlated contextual variables: Results from a two-wave study in five European countries. Youth & Society, 0044118X20942256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0044118X20942256

Wallman Lundåsen, S., & Wollebæk, D. (2013). Diversity and community trust in Swedish local communities. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties, 23(3), 299-321. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2013.808201

Wollebæk, D., S. Wallman Lundåsen and L. Trägårdh. (2012) Three forms of interpersonal trust: Evidence from Swedish municipalities. Scandinavian Political Studies, 35(4), 319-346.

Yamagishi, T., & Yamagishi, M. (1994). Trust and commitment in the United States and Japan. Motivation and emotion, 18(2), 129-166. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9477.2012.00291.x

Zaff, J. F., Boyd, M., Li, Y., Lerner, J. V., & Lerner, R. M. (2010). Active and engaged citizenship: Multi-group and longitudinal factorial analysis of an integrated construct of civic engagement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39(7), 736-750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-010-9541-6

Zaff, J. F., Moore, K. A., Papillo, A. R., & Williams, S. (2003). Implications of extracurricular activity participation during adolescence on positive outcomes. Journal of Adolescent Research, 18(6), 599-630. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558403254779


Full Text: PDF

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 3.0 Italia License.