Today more and more algorithms and their applications are entering into the everyday life of each of us. Algorithms can help people to make more effective choices through historical data analysis, generating predictions to present to the user in the form of advice and suggestions. Given the increasing popularity of these suggestions, a greater understanding of how people could increase their judgment through the suggestions presented is needed, in order to improve the interface design of these applications. Since the envision of Artificial Intelligence (AI), technical progress has the intent of surpassing human performance and abilities (Crandall et al., 2018). Less consideration has been given to improve cooperative relationships between human agents and computer agents during decision tasks. No study up to date has investigated the negative emotions that could arise from a bad outcome after following the suggestion given by an intelligent system, and how to cope with the potential distrust that could affect the long-term use of the system. According to Zeelenberg et al. (Martinez & Zeelenberg, 2015; Martinez, Zeelenberg, & Rijsman, 2011a; Zeelenberg & Pieters, 1999), there are two emotions strongly related to wrong decisions, regret, and disappointment. The objective of this research is to understand the different effects of disappointment and regret on participants’ behavioral responses to failed suggestions given by algorithm-based systems. The research investigates how people deal with a computer suggestion that brings to a not satisfying result, compared to a human suggestion. To achieve this purpose, three different scenarios were tested in three different experiments. In the first experiment, the comparison was amongst two wrong suggestions in a between-subjects design through the presentation of a flight ticket scenario with two tasks. The first study analyzed exploratory models that explain the involvement of the source of suggestion and the trust in the systems in the experience of counterfactual emotions and responsibility attribution. The second experiment takes advantage of a typical purchase scenario, already used in the psychological literature, which had the aim to solve the issues found in the first study and test the algorithm aversion paradigm through the lenses of a classic study of regret literature. Results showed that, contrary to early predictions, people blame more the source of the suggestion when it comes from a human as compared with an intelligent computer suggestion. The third study had the aim to understand the role of counterfactuals through a paradigmatic experiment from algorithm aversion literature. In this study, the main finding is about the reliance people have on the algorithmic suggestion, which is higher compared to the reliance they have with a human suggestion. Nevertheless, people felt more guilt when they had a wrong outcome with a computer compared with a suggestion given by a person. Results are relevant in order to better understand how people decide and trust algorithm-based systems after a wrong outcome. This thesis is the first attempt to understand this algorithm aversion from the experienced counterfactual emotions and their different behavioral consequences. However, some of these findings showed contradictory results in the three experiments; this could be due to the different scenarios and participants’ thoughts and perceptions of artificial intelligence-based systems. From this work, three suggestions can be inferred to help designers of intelligent systems. The first regards the effective involvement of counterfactuals during the user interaction with a wrong outcome and the potential behavioral consequences that could affect the future use of the intelligent system. The second suggestion is the contribution to the importance of the context in which decisions are made, and the third guideline suggests the designer rethink about anthropomorphism as the best practice to present suggestions in the occurrence of potential wrong outcomes. Future works will investigate, in a more detailed way the perceptions of users and test different scenarios and decision domains.

La tesi presenta una ricerca sull'interazione psicosociale in realtà virtuale. Il primo studio esplora l'impatto di una metodologia di produzione dei dati qualitativa sull'esperienza in RV; il secondo studio esplora, con un approccio grounded theory, le modalità di costruzione della presenza; il terzo studio esplorare l'interazione in rv durante delle sessioni di terapia; il quarto studio, tramite il ricorso all'analisi delle conversazioni, esplora le modalità di co-definizione dei significati in rv. / This research concerns psycho-social interactions in Virtual Reality. In order to investigate subjective experience by a qualitative approach, in the first experiment the feasibility of the thinking aloud data production technique has been verified. The second study investigated the process of presence, by analyzing data produced in the first study, within a grounded theory approach. The use of Virtual Reality in mental health, and particularly for psychotherapy, introduces a radical modification in the therapeutic setting: the typical configuration requires the patient to be immersed in the VE, while the therapist observes and controls the interaction by “outside” the environment. This unique ecosystem requires a qualitative approach to investigate it. In the third study, a qualitative content approach has been used, in order to describe the interactional processes and the co-construction of the sense of presence. In the fourth study, conversational processes in a shared VE have been investigated by creating a shared task in VR and in vivo. Results from this research program suggest the interactional nature of the sense of presence.

La presente ricerca mira ad approfondire la natura strategica e gli effetti del ragionamento controfattuale utilizzato in discorsi di natura conflittuale tra avversari politici, con l'obiettivo implicito di persuadere un pubblico di ascoltatori. A questo scopo, sono stati condotti due studi. La prima ricerca quantitativa mira a comprendere quanto un attacco controfattuale possa minare l'immagine dei politici nei confronti dei cittadini, a dispetto dell’importanza dell’orientamento ideologico del pubblico stesso. Nella seconda ricerca quantitativa si sono approfonditi gli effetti di diverse tipologie di attacchi controfattuali sull’immagine dei leader politici; gli attacchi controfattuali sono mossi a diversi livelli di astrazione e sottendono la violazione di una norma di competenza o di integrità da parte del leader target. / This study aims at deepening the strategic nature and the effects of counterfactual reasoning used in dialectical discourses among politicians, whose implicit goal consists in persuading receivers. For this purpose, two studies have been realized. The first quantitative research aims at understanding if the use of counterfactual attacks can harm politicians' image, in spite of the importance of political attitudes of citizens. The second quantitative research studies the effects of different counterfactuals on politicians’ image; these counterfactual attacks (at different levels of abstraction) can evoke the violation of a norm of agency or communion by the leader.

Le ricerche esistenti in letteratura negli ultimi quarant’anni si sono occupate dello studio sistematico dello sviluppo dell’empatia e della prosocialità nei bambini e adolescenti, da diverse prospettive. In questo ambito di studi un settore ancora poco esplorato è quello dello studio delle relazioni esistenti tra le risposte prosociali e le componenti della resilienza, che intervengono nel comportamento di aiuto e sostegno agli altri. Il presente lavoro di tesi esplora in che modo vi sia una relazione tra i costrutti dell’empatia, prosocialità e resilienza, sia nei fanciulli che negli adulti. Il primo studio ha come campione 203 bambini della scuola primaria (8-11 anni) e indaga la predisposizione alla sintonizzazione empatica, alla condivisione, collaborazione e al comportamento resiliente di gruppo, tramite un questionario che utilizza scale standardizzate sia a livello internazionale che nazionale. Il secondo studio ha come obiettivo la comprensione della predisposizione empatica dei genitori dei bambini considerati e la loro capacità di perspective-taking rispetto alla resilienza dei figli. Inoltre, si valuta la relazione esistente tra il comportamento genitoriale e l’atteggiamento dei bambini, per verificarne il grado di imitazione vissuto. / In the last forty years researches on literature dealt with systematic study of development of empathy and prosocial behaviors in children and adolescence, which were examined from different perspectives. In this context an unexplored sector is the study of existing connection between prosocial answers and resilience components which occur in helping behavior and support of the others. The present work explore the modalities of the connection among constructs of empathy, prosociality and resilience, both in childhood and in adults. 203 children of primary school (8-11years old) are the samples of the first study and the research investigates predisposition of emphatic feeling, of sharing, and of resilient behaviors of the group. It uses a questionnaire of standardize scales both an international and national level. The main goal of the second study is the comprehension of empathic predisposition of children’s relatives of the sample and their perspective-taking in respect to children’s resilience. In addition, it evaluates the relation between relatives behavior and children attitude, in order to verify the type of experienced imitation.

Il lavoro di tesi si focalizza su due meccanismi di self-enhancement, le positive illusions e il self-serving bias, e li analizza nel contesto della relazione di coppia, con particolare attenzione all’influenza che una strategia di parenting disfunzionale come l’intrusive parenting esercita su di essi. La tesi si articola in tre studi: il primo ed il secondo studio, adottando un approccio quantitativo, si focalizzano sul costrutto delle positive illusions, mentre il terzo, attraverso un disegno sperimentale, sul costrutto del self-serving bias. / Self-enhancement is a self-motive which pushes individuals to increase positive self-views and to protect their self-concept from negative information. Two mechanisms associated with the self-enhancement motive, positive illusions and the self-serving bias, will be analyzed in the context of couple relationship. Positive illusions deal with the tendency to perceive one’s relationship favorably when compared to the couple relationship of the average other. The self-serving bias relates to the tendency to make internal responsibility attributions for positive events but to make external responsibility attributions for negative events; however, when individuals collaborate with a close partner on an interdependent-outcome task, they refrain from self-serving attributions or even manifest the other-serving bias. These mechanisms serve the purpose of maintaining and protecting a relationship that is central in one’s couple identity. The present work will also focus on the influence that an insidious parental behavior like intrusive parenting exerts on these two biases pro-relationship and, consequently, on couple identity. Study 1 and 2 are dedicated to the examination of couple positive illusions in couples in transition to marriage whereas study 3 investigates the self-serving bias in dating partners.

Questo lavoro si articola in tre studi condotti con approcci qualitativi. Nel primo studio si è deciso di prendere in considerazione le teorie dell’apprendimento legate all’area socio-culturale e psicodinamica. In questo studio si utilizza la narrative review come metodologia per l’analisi della letteratura. L’obiettivo è quello di dare al lettore un inquadramento concettuale che lo aiuti a comprendere meglio ciò che verrà esposto negli studi successivi. Nel secondo studio si intende mappare le concezioni di apprendimento presenti nei master. A tale fine sono state effettuate interviste ai ai coordinatori didattici dei master, è stata fatta un’etnografia sui documenti dei master e quattro focus group con i partecipanti ai master, con l’obiettivo di mappare le concezioni di apprendimento e di conoscenza sottese. Nel terzo studio si intendono mappare le pratiche di tutorship all’interno dei master presi in esame, con l’obiettivo di comprendere quale sia il ruolo del tutor nell’accompagnare i partecipanti ad apprendere e cambiare nel percorso del master. Dalle pratiche emerse si evidenzia quanto questo ruolo sia un ruolo chiave nell’accompagnamento all’apprendimento nelle diverse fasi del master. In chiusura si è effettuata una rilettura psicodinamica della funzione di tutorship come possibile aiuto a costituire uno statuto del ruolo di tutor. / This work has been structured in three studies conducted with qualitative methods. In the first study, learning theories related to socio-cultural and psychodynamics area have been taken into consideration and narrative review has been used as a methodology for the literature analysis. The aim was to give a conceptual framework to better understand what will be further present. In the second study, the main purpose was to map the different conceptions of learning and knowledge in master programmes. For this purpose, interviews has been submitted to didactic coordinators of masters; an ethnography on the documents of masters and four focus groups with the participants have been conducted. In the third study, the goal was to map the tutorship practices within the master programmes examined, in order to understand the role of the tutor in the learning and changing processes of participants during the master programmes. From the emergent practices, has been highlighted that tutor has a key role in the learning process during different stages. In closing, has been realized a psychodynamic rereading of the tutorship function as a possible aid to constitute a statute of the role of tutor.

Il presente lavoro di tesi si focalizza sui concetti di identità, soggettività e intersoggettività che sottostanno alla creazione di senso per l’individuo (Galimberti, 2011). Il primo studio riguarda il rapporto tra nuove posizioni identitarie e costruzione della coerenza del sé. I risultati dimostrano che effettivamente le persone percepiscono le proprie identità come diverse le une dalle altre e diverse anche dal proprio Sé; inoltre mentre percepiscono cambiamenti a livello identitario, la coerenza del sé pare non cambiare nel tempo. Il secondo studio è centrato sul rapporto tra soggettività enunciativa e costruzione di coerenza. Analizzando 9 blog di studenti è possibile osservare che i blogger esprimono in maniera diversa la propria soggettività in ogni post, e che attraverso i meccanismi narrativi di coerenza e riflessività e l’enunciazione riescono a ricostruire il senso della propria storia. Il terzo studio studia i processi di creazione dell’intersoggettività enunciativa all’interno di un gruppo in ambiente face to face e online. I risultati mostrano che le configurazioni che le intersoggettività può assumere nel tempo sono diverse, ma che i processi che sottostanno all’intersoggettività sono isomorfi ai due contesti. / The present work focus on the concepts of identità, subjectivity and intersubjectivity that substain sense-making processes in individuals (Galimberti, 2011). The first study is about new Identity positions and self congruence. Participants report that their identities are different from each other and their Self; at identity level they report that their identities change over time, but their sle f congruence does not. The second research is focused on the link between utterance subjectivity and construction of coherency in narrations. Nine blogs were analyzed and results show that bloggers express their subjectivity differently in each post, and thank to narrative processes (coherence and reflexivity) and to enunciation they can make sense of their own experiences. The third research here presented studies the processes that underlies the creation of intersubjectivity in a group working online and face to face. Results show that intersubjective results of interactions change over time, but there is isomorphism between the processes of creating intersubjectivity online and face to face.

La letteratura che studia perché le persone si impegnano nell’azione collettiva mostra due principali limitazioni: 1) l’utilizzo di un approccio di ricerca top- down e researcher-centered e 2) il mancato coinvolgimento attivo delle persone in ottica partecipata e co-costruita. Quanto detto mostrerebbe la necessità di applicare un approccio bottom-up che veda il coinvolgimento in prima persona degli attivisti. Il presente lavoro è un disegno di ricerca qualitativo multi-metodo concorrente nel quale sono state combinare due metodologie di ricerca: la Grounded Theory costruttivista (Studio 1) e il Concept Mapping (Studio 2), partendo dalla domanda di ricerca: quali sono le motivazioni che portano gli attivisti oggigiorno a impegnarsi nell’azione collettiva? Lo Studio 1 ha evidenziato, attraverso interviste semi-strutturate individuali, le componenti processuali che portano le persone a impegnarsi nell’azione collettiva. Lo Studio 2, attraverso uno sguardo sulla comunità degli attivisti e tramite un approccio partecipato, ha permesso di far emergere le motivazioni che portano gli attivisti a impegnarsi e come incentivare questo impegno. I risultati suggeriscono come l’azione collettiva non possa più vedere un lavoro e uno studio solo sul singolo che agisce in gruppo, ma dovrebbe prevedere un lavoro di comunità: del contesto, dell’associazione e delle persone che ne fanno parte. / The literature studying why people engage in collective action shows two main limitations: 1) the use of a top-down, researcher-centered research approach and 2) the lack of active involvement of people from a participatory, co-constructed perspective. This shows the need to apply a bottom-up approach with the active involvement of activists. The present work is a concurrent multi-method qualitative research design in which two research methodologies were combined: constructivist Grounded Theory (Study 1) and Concept Mapping (Study 2), starting from the research question: what are the motivations that lead activists today to engage in collective action? Study 1 highlighted, through individual semi-structured interviews, the processual components that lead people to engage in collective action. Study 2, through a focus on the activist community and through a participatory approach, uncovered the motivations that lead activists to engage and how to incentivize this engagement. Results suggest how scholars and professionals can no longer study and work in the collective action context only from the individual acting in a group point of view, but instead should involve community work: in the context, in the associations and with people who are part of it.

Human beings must constantly adapt to an uncertain and mutable world by generating efficient behavioral strategies to pursue their goals. The complexity of this task increases in interactive contexts, where the outcomes of our actions depend also on the choices of other agents. When the environment does not provide reliable feedback, the effectiveness of behavioral strategies rests on the ability to handle available knowledge: agents have indeed to extract relevant information from noisy signals and build an exhaustive representation of the set of potential actions and outcomes available to themselves and to others. Individual differences in the implementation of these information- processing operations may underlie behavioral heterogeneity in several judgment and decision making tasks. Here we report three eye-tracking studies revealing the existence of distinct information-processing strategies in different individuals. Study 1 explores inter-individual differences in the generation of relational representations of interdependent contingencies. In Study 2 and Study 3, we move towards social contexts to investigate the mechanisms of strategy generation underlying strategic behavior in interaction. Our findings indicate that gaze data can disclose individual differences in the process of spontaneous strategy generation in both individual and interacting settings. We also report results suggesting that the emergence of unsophisticated information-processing strategies is associated with cognitive style. Moreover, we show that the attentional mechanisms sustaining the generation of unsophisticated strategies can be reconsidered and updated under the impact of endogenous and exogenous cues revealing the existence of alternative information-processing behaviors.

As economic inequality constantly grows, understanding what drives individuals’ support for redistribution is as critical as ever. In the current dissertation, we find evidence suggesting that attitudes towards reducing economic inequality can be experienced with moral conviction (i.e., perceived as rooted in one’s core beliefs about right and wrong). This, in turn, can motivate support for redistribution. In Study 1, reducing economic inequality moral conviction scores were comparable to other highly moralized topics (e.g., euthanasia), and higher than lowly moralized topics (e.g., tattoos). In Studies 2 and 3, a greater moral conviction for reducing economic inequality (family wealth and family income, respectively) positively predicted support for redistributive government policies (such as minimum wages and tax breaks increases) – also when controlling for income, subjective socio-economic inequality and economic system justification (i.e., other critical predictors of support for redistribution). Furthermore, this relationship was mediated by empathic concern (with mixed results) and structural causal attributions. Finally, Study 4 showed how moral conviction predicted a positive evaluation of poverty reduction program – even in the face of negative evidence (i.e., description of a fictitious family misusing their welfare bonuses). Moreover, moral conviction worked as a predictor of family evaluation when positive cases were shown. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of one’s moral conviction as a motivator of support for redistributive policies - suggesting that future research should take into account addressing not only implications concerning cost and benefits, but individuals’ personal moral considerations as well.