This contribution aims to investigate how place attachment styles, conceptualised starting from interpersonal attachment styles, contribute to the activation of Positive (i.e., support seeking) or Negative and Avoidant (e.g., behavioural disengagement, substance abuse, making fun of the situation) behavioural coping through cognitive (i.e., Depletion of Self-Control) and emotional (i.e., Distress, Solastalgia) coping variables. For each Place Attachment Style (i.e., Secure, Preoccupied and Fearful-Avoidant) a mediation model was hypothesised. To test the assumptions, a study was conducted in Romanian high-risk areas (N = 237). Results show how both Secure and Preoccupied Place Attachment Styles were associated with higher Positive Coping through Solastalgia, while this mediating role of Solastalgia lowered Negative Coping only for Preoccupied Place Attachment Style. On the contrary, Fearful-Avoidant Place Attachment Style negatively predicted Positive Coping through a higher Depletion of Self-Control. Avoidant Coping was not associated with any of the variables in the study. Findings highlight the importance of designing policies, risk communication strategies and pre- and post-disaster interventions considering individual differences in place attachment styles. People with a Fearful-Avoidant Place Attachment Style are more vulnerable and should be prioritised in the support received before and after a disaster.

"ABSTRACT. Introduction: Sports activity interferes with physiological growth, adaptability accelerating and perfecting structural, functional and mental differentiation. The performance model is dependent on the total capacity of the players, on the psycho-social system resulting from the perfection of the executive functions, of the morphological, physiological, informational and decisional subsystems. Objective: The objectives underlying this work are the discovery and determination of the relative age effect (RAE) that leaves its mark on the system of failure or success in the lives of athletes, basketball players. By following the birth months of the athletes of a certain year, we try to prove that there is a close connection between the age advance in the life of certain athletes and their career succes. The premise of the study is to analyze the impact of the RAE effect in the U16, U18 and U20 categories of the Romanian junior women's basketball teams. Material and method: In order to demonstrate a connection within this subject, the method used was the structuring of sportswomen in several age categories and the analysis of their results. Results: According to the conducted study, the existence of the relative age effect among the selected ones is found, but not in the way that those born in the first months of the year would have a substantial advantage. Conclusions: The results confirm the fact that there is a possibility for the younger ones to evolve with efficiency similar to their older colleagues."

The general aim is to advance the understanding of the role of both place attachment intensity and place attachment styles for adaptive coping strategies with flood risk. Place attachment styles are operationalized as secure, preoccupied, and fearful-avoidant. Risk coping strategies are conceptualized as emotional (i.e., distress), and behavioral coping strategies (i.e., positive, negative, and avoidant). Two main cross-sectional studies were conducted in both high and low-risk areas: one study in Italy (N = 100) and one study in Romania (N = 391). The first study aims to test the moderating effect of place attachment intensity and place attachment styles both on the relation between perception of risk and distress; and on the relation between perception of risk and positive, avoidant and negative behavioral coping. The second study tests the effects of place attachment styles on the relation between the objective risk level and both emotional and behavioral coping. Results show that, in the high-risk context, people with a higher place attachment or having a secure bond with the place, are more likely to feel distress, and less likely to use avoidant coping strategies when the perceived risk is high. As for the low-risk context, people having a fearful-avoidant bond are more inclined to choose avoidant coping when the perceived risk is high. When taking into account the actual risk level, and not the perceived risk, people with a secure bond will more likely choose positive coping, as opposed to people with a fearful-avoidant place attachment when exposed to a higher risk. Place attachment style can thus be a relevant variable affecting strategies of environmental risk coping, at both emotional and behavioral level: specifically, a secure place attachment style, though favoring psychological distress, can improve a more constructive and adaptive behavioral strategy in face of higher perceived or objective flood risk.

This chapter demonstrates an approach to the agent-based modelling of norm transmission using decision trees learned from questionnaire data. We explore the implications of adding norm dynamics implied in static questionnaire data and the influence social network topology has on the outcome. We find that parameters determining network topology influence the outcome in both hierarchical and co-worker networks in a simulated workplace. As an exercise in empirical agent-based modelling, this work highlights the importance of gathering data on interactions in field studies.

The main objective of our study is to identify the marginalized areas of the territorial administrative unit Checea, Timis county, identifying the main needs of residents, social issues faced by the communities in these marginalized areas, and the diagnosis of socio-economic opportunities available in the region. The study aims to validate the marginalized areas of Checea village, Timis County and serves prioritary to the substantiation of social interventions that will be designed and implemented in an independent project. Data analysis shows the coexistence of various marginalized communities in the rural locality Checea, as identified in the public mind, of colonies type with Roma inhabitants and showing the size of each particular vulnerability regarding human capital, occupation and poverty. Research design The investigative approach is of case study type having as a research universe, the population of Checea village. The statistic data were taken from the sheet of Checea village 2016, census of population and housing 2011 from the Regional Statistics Department Timis National Statistics Institute, from the records of the City Hall Checea, monographs of Checea village, from the General School with grades I-VIII Checea and the Police station Checea. Field data collection was done through a sociological survey based on questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and sociological observation. The research tools are taken from the Atlas of marginalized rural areas and local human development in Romania, Appendix 4, field research tools for the validation of the study. The subjects interviewed were local officials (mayor, social worker, secretary of the mayor, local councilors, school director, Orthodox priest, local policeman) and inhabitants of marginalized areas.

This article examines the approach of a real training need in the Romanian society, the training of integrity counsellors in public institutions and of ethics counsellors in schools, an approach designed starting from the ecological model of Urie Bronfenbrenner. Institutional ethics and integrity are fundamental elements for the proper functioning of any public institution, including those who belong to the criminal justice system. Promoting an integrity culture in all the institutions is not just a desideratum, but also a moral obligation, urgent and necessary.

Climate changes’ effects are already present in our day to day life. The EU and national public authorities established strategies and public policies in order to enhance a more desirable behavior of the companies and citizens with regard to recycling and use of green energy. The companies try to make production choices that are more eco-friendly and to sustain campaigns helping cities to become “greener”. The environmentalist citizens occupy a growing share in the general population and are more vocal for convincing the others. But even with the “on the wave” eco-friendly attitude, is it done enough? The article will present some conclusions for Romania. The perspective taken is interdisciplinary and tries to draw a short review of the state of the art achievements in greening Romania’s economy, at macroeconomic level, while proposing new marketing approaches for enhancing further sustainable development, through promoting change in the companies and consumers attitudes and behaviors.

The present research aimed at researching the relationships among place attachment, residential evaluations and satisfaction in a medium-sized post-communist Romanian city. Studies on post-communist cities are scarce and this research tried to fill that gap. This research is part of a government project that intended to significantly reform three medium-sized cities in the Western part of Romania and transform the urban space. Since the three of them are relatively small-sized and close spatially, the project intends to undertake massive reforms of the communications and services of the three cities. In this article, we report findings on the city of Hunedoara. A representative random sample was selected, and a total of 384 people were interviewed, with an overall reliability of the sample of 95%. The instruments used to gather the data were the Neighbourhood Perceived Environmental Quality Scale and a composite measure of place attachment was also included. The structure of each scale was checked using exploratory factor analysis. We tested alternative causal models using structural equations modelling. Our model showed a good fit to the data and explains satisfaction in the city adequately. Results show that satisfaction is directly predicted by the general evaluation of the city and by residential privacy. Residential noise and place attachment influence satisfaction indirectly. The results are discussed and some policy recommendations are formulated.