Theoretical background: The Positivity Scale (POS; Caprara et al., 2012) has been widely used to measure an individual’s level of positivity. Aim: Our aim was to develop a valid form of the inventory for the Hungarian population. Methods: We used a large sample of 11,686 Hungarian individuals (2,725 males and 8,961 females), consisting of four subsamples in our research. The age varied between 18 and 100 years ( M = 43.8; SD = 15.5). Participants completed a 64-item online questionnaire with POS items and other well-being measures so that we could assess external validity. Psychometric analyses included CFA and reliability assessments. Results: According to our results, the POS has a good structural validity in the Hungarian population. In the total sample RMSEA = .064 (CI: [.061 – .068]), CFI = .983, TLI = .973, SRMR = .020. Measurement invariance was approved for five socio-demographic variables: gender, age level, education, occupation, marital status. External validity of the POS was also demonstrated. POS measures a very similar construct to other traditional tests of well-being such as Huppert’s and Diener’s Flourishing Scales (.783 < r < .870). All measures of well-functioning and physical or mental health are positively related to POS (.507 < r < .720). Correlations between POS and the four virtue scales of the VIA-H were between .401 and .661, the highest with the Spirituality and transcendence scale. Regarding sociodemographic variables POS shows a clear positive relationship with subjective financial situation ( r = .317). The overall level of positivity is highest among people living in marriage or cohabitation. Positivity is usually higher for women than for men, most pronounced between the ages of 25 and 50, among divorced, widowed or those living alone, among entrepreneurs and employees. By occupation, high levels of positivity are found among entrepreneurs and employees, and the lowest levels are among the unemployed. Conclusion: POS demonstrates robust psychometric properties, making it a suitable instrument for future research within the Hungarian population.

In this study, the associations between positivity and positive affect were examined at five time points between January 2020 and September 2021, a period of turmoil associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from 1401 students (73.45% women) attending an online university in Spain, commencing at the outbreak of the pandemic and then at four different time points up to the time it was considered to have been controlled. The results of a cross-lagged panel model revealed that participants who maintained higher general positivity were also those who reported more intense overall positive affect. At the same time, above-average positive affect predicted higher-than-usual levels of positivity. By pointing to the reciprocal relationships between positivity and positive affect, the results corroborate and go beyond previous findings by highlighting a virtuous cycle in which positivity and positive affect reciprocally influence each other over time. These data are in accordance with a dynamic view of how self-focused, positive evaluative dispositions and chronic positive affective states operate in concert to enhance adaptation and well-being. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Prosocial behavior is crucial for positive development, protecting against negative outcomes throughout childhood and adolescence. The CEPIDEAS Junior program (Emotional and Prosocial Competence: An Idea for School) is a school-based intervention based on Social Cognitive Theory, which promotes prosocial behaviors in primary school by integrating its contents into the regular curriculum. Adopting a quasi-experimental design, this study evaluated the effects of the program on prosocial and aggressive behaviors among N = 858 primary school children (381 girls, M = 8.46 years). The intervention group included 435 children (198 girls, M = 8.44 years), while the control group had 423 children (183 girls, M = 8.49 years). Using teacher ratings and self-reports, the results of two bivariate Latent Difference Score models showed the positive impact of the program on prosocial and aggressive behaviors. These results confirm the efficacy of the CEPIDEAS Junior demonstrating the benefits of integrating prosocial into the school curriculum.

Albert Bandura, one of the most influential psychologists, passed away on 26 July 2021. His scientific merits have been acknowledged across various domains of inquiry, thereby attesting to his relevance for understanding people's agentic role in shaping and improving their life. The purpose of this special issue was to honour Bandura's contribution to psychological science through a collection of articles from several researchers around the globe whose scientific interests are rooted in Bandura's theoretical conceptualisations, ranging from self-efficacy beliefs to moral disengagement.

Positivity, defined as the tendency to view life and experiences with a positive outlook, has recently received a great deal of interest for its significance in understanding human strengths and well-being, yet the temporal interplay among its three facets (self-esteem, life satisfaction, optimism) in relation to the construct of positivity itself is still unclear. A three-wave study of 1,375 Spanish university students investigated this interplay before, during, and after the first COVID-19 lockdown. A Random Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Model separated trait-like from state-like variance in each facet and extracted latent shared components, to explore the extent to which positivity subsumes or coexists with these dimensions of human strengths and their relationships across time. The trait-like positivity factor loaded strongly on the between-person components of self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism, suggesting a pervasive influence on these facets at the between-person level. A state-like positivity factor accounted for their concurrent dynamic fluctuations, but did not fully account for the within-person variance of each facet, showing its distinctiveness from these constructs and the uniqueness of each. Moreover, both trait-like and state-like positivity and within-person residuals of self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism were significantly associated with subjective mental health perception. These findings contribute to the understanding of positivity as a construct encompassing a stable trait-like disposition and state-like specific components arising from self-esteem, life satisfaction and optimism without subsuming them, highlighting its role as an expression of the self-system with an important function in well-being and adaptive functioning.

To honour the memory of Albert Bandura and David Magnusson, a few years after their deaths, the current status and perspectives of research on Personality is addressed. There is a growing demand for psychological knowledge to enable our societies to value their human capital. To this end, contemporary research on Personality moves beyond traditional rivalries among competing theories and addresses the whole personality by focusing on the unique properties that account for humans as agentic and moral beings, and for the social conditions that enable us to unveil and nurture the best of our humanity.

Background: Positivity (POS) indicates the proclivity to see life and experiences in a positive light. There is limited research on its effects on individuals with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD). Very little is known about the relationship between POS and daily activities in people with SSD. Aim: The study aims to compare the POS rated by patients with SSD with those obtained in an Italian normative sample matched by age and sex and to use the Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to investigate the association between POS and daily time use (i.e. productive activities, leisure activities), functioning and mood in individuals with SSD. Method: 620 SSD patients were recruited from mental health services in Italy as part of the DiAPAson project. POS, symptom severity, functioning, and quality of life (QoL) were assessed. POS scores were compared to a normative sample of 5,002 Italian citizens. Additionally, a subset of 102 patients underwent 7-day assessments using mobile EMA. Results: People with SSD did not significantly differ from the Italian normative sample in POS levels (0.035, p = .190). POS showed a significant inverse association with support network (−0.586, p = .036) and symptomatology (BPRS −0.101; 95% p < .001; BNSS B = −0.113, p < .001). A significant direct association was found between POS and QoL ( B = 0.310, p < .001) and functioning ( B = 0.058, p < .001). In the subsample using EMA, POS ratings showed significant associations with Positive Emotions ( B = 0.167, p < .001) and Negative Emotions ( B = −0.201, p < .001). Conclusion: People with SSD exhibited comparable levels of POS to the normative sample. Higher POS was linked to better functioning, QoL, fewer severe symptoms, and increased positive emotions. However, it did not relate to increased productivity or engagement in leisure activities. Further research is needed to understand the relationship between POS and time use in individuals with SSD.

COVID-19 pandemic has seen a rise in psychological problems. However, little is known about the role of positivity and personality traits in facing the pandemic. Therefore, we aimed at investigating whether higher positivity was associated with a better emotional, behavioural and cognitive response to COVID-19, taking into account the role of the big five traits. We performed a cross-sectional multiple waves study with 5,002 participants representative of the Italian general population (May 2021 and March 2022). The Ten Item Personality Inventory was used for the evaluation of the big five traits, while the Positivity Scale for the assessment of positivity. Statistical analyses included linear regression models and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The main predictors of Preventive behaviours of COVID-19 were Conscientiousness (β=0.100, p<0.001) and Agreeableness (β=0.117, p<0.001), while the main predictor in explaining self-efficacy in preventing COVID-19 infection was Positivity (β=0.141, p<0.001). Neuroticism (β=-0.186, p<0.001) and Positivity (β=0.094, p<0.001) predicted the Affective response related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Positivity has a protective role in buffering the negative effects of the pandemic on people’s affective response, as well as supporting stronger self-efficacy and confidence about the usefulness of the vaccine, and higher preventive behaviours, over and above personality traits. The results of the sensitivity analysis using the first two components of the big five traits Communion and Agency confirmed the results of the linear regressions of the big five traits: communion is the main predictor of Preventive behaviours of COVID-19, while self-efficacy of preventing COVID-19 infection. Positivity has a protective role in buffering the negative effects of the pandemic on people’s affective response, as well as supporting stronger self-efficacy and confidence about the usefulness of the vaccine, and higher preventive behaviours, over and above personality traits.

Moral disengagement plays an important role in the routinization of counterproductive work behavior (CWB) as a key mediator. What remains unclear are the factors that could attenuate the power of moral disengagement in this process. Building on social-cognitive theory, we hypothesize the moderating role of moral self-efficacy and suggest the importance of two different dimensions: self-reflective and behavioral moral self-efficacies. While the former should buffer the CWB-moral disengagement path over time, the latter should buffer the moral disengagement-CWB path. After presenting the psychometric properties of the moral self-efficacy scale in two independent samples (Study 1: United Kingdom, N = 359; Study 2: Italy, N = 1308), we test the posited multi-wave moderated-mediated model. Results from a structural equation model supported our hypotheses. Results demonstrate that the routinization of CWB through the mediation of moral disengagement over time is conditionally influenced by the two moral self-efficacy dimensions. Employees high in capability to look back and question the assumptions that affected their behavior (i.e., self-reflective moral self-efficacy) are less likely to morally disengage as a result of previous engagement in CWB. Employees high in capability to morally self-regulate (i.e., behavioral moral self-efficacy) are less likely to engage in CWB as a result of their moral disengagement. Results of the conditional indirect effect suggest that previous engagement in CWB is not translated in future engagement in CWB for those individuals high in both moral self-efficacy dimensions.

Background The purpose of this study is to assess the psychometric properties of the French version of the Positivity scale (P scale), a self-report measure of positivity, which is the tendency to view and address life and experience with a positive outlook. Positivity is seen as a latent factor underlying multiple cognitive concepts such as self-esteem, life satisfaction, and optimism. Methods We recruited 666 volunteers (540 women and 126 men). They completed the P scale online, as well as self-report measures of psychological well-being, self-esteem, satisfaction with life, general health, and personality dimensions. The study sample was randomly split into two sub-groups, one used for exploratory factor analysis and the other for confirmatory factor analysis. Results We found conflictual results related to the uni-dimensionality of the French version of the P scale. We found good internal consistency and high concurrent validity. Conclusion The French version of the P scale demonstrated good psychometric qualities and is a reliable tool that can now be used by French researchers and clinicians to assess positivity.

This chapter presents the major findings of five studies conducted in Serbia that corroborate the validity of the positivity scale and that document the impact of positive orientation on psychosocial functioning. A large number of studies that have included thousands of participants across a diverse range of cultures have led to positive orientation being posited as the common latent factor underlying self-esteem, life satisfaction, and dispositional optimism. Five studies on positivity carried out on a Serbian sample mainly confirm the findings reported by a large number of the other investigations on positivity, administered to thousands of participants over the past 20 years and conducted across a large and varied array of countries, contexts, and cultures. Thus, research designed to test whether, and especially how, positivity operates as a beneficial function and whether and why a lack or excess of positivity, or, in short may carry negative consequences deserve further investigation.

Regulatory emotional self-efficacy beliefs (RESE) in managing negative emotions and in expressing positive emotions are believed to play an important role in different spheres of psychological functioning. However, the literature does not offer a quantitative synthesis of the degree of the relation between RESE and indices of (mal)adjustment. The present study is a meta-analytic investigation of the relation between RESE and indices of maladjustment and adjustment. A total of 93 studies from 83 peer-reviewed international articles and 1 doctoral dissertation were included, for a total amount of 48,373 participants. RESE were negatively and significantly related to maladjustment ( r = -.24). Conversely, RESE were positively and significantly related to adjustment ( r = .35). Results seem not to be affected by publication bias and only a few moderating effects were documented. In conclusion, given the above results, RESE proved to be (among others) a valid marker of overall psychosocial functioning, both in its positive and negative facets.

Democracy’s realisation depends upon citizens’ aspirations and capacities to sustain forms of self-governance that promote the expression of their personalities and the full actualisation of their potentials. The development of citizens’ personalities and of democracy are in fact mutually interdependent. Whereas citizens’ world views, reasoning, values, aspirations and habits are crucial to sustain the functioning of democratic institutions, the latter set the conditions for nurturing beliefs, motivations and behaviours that accord with their optimal development and with the pursuit of the common good. This makes democracy a challenge that cannot be successfully achieved unless grounded on the moral commitment of all citizens to treat each other with the same respect as each would like to be treated and to care for one another’s wellbeing as one might care for one’s own growth and happiness. Democracy is destined to fail unless the moral agency of citizens operates as a moderator of the new iniquities carried by modernity.

Moral disengagement (MD) is a social-cognitive process that increases the likelihood of engaging in counterproductive work behavior (CWB). Previous studies have also suggested its role in the routinization of misconduct. What remains unclear are the processes that could attenuate the disinhibitory power of MD in routinization of CWB. This is what we investigate in this manuscript. We propose that self-reflective and behavioral ethical self-efficacy beliefs can buffer the CWB-MD-CWB mediational path over time. We present two empirical studies conducted in two different contexts (i.e., the United Kingdom and Italy). Preliminary examination of the psychometric properties of the newly developed constructs attested the validity and reliability of the ethical SE measures (Study 1, N=308). The posited model has been investigated in an independent longitudinal study conducted on a larger sample of employees (Study 2, N=1308). Results from a structural equation model of moderated mediation confirmed that more efficacious individuals were less likely to routinize CWB over time through the mediation of MD. Results showed that the effect of self-reflective and behavioral ethical self-efficacies on the routinization process occurs at different stages. While self-reflective ethical self-efficacy buffers the CWB-MD relationship over time, behavioral ethical self-efficacy buffers the MD-CWB relationship over time. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

This research investigated the psychometric properties of the Prosociality Scale and its cross-cultural validation and generalizability across five different western and non-western countries (China, Chile, Italy, Spain, and the United States). The scale was designed to measure individual differences in a global tendency to behave in prosocial ways during late adolescence and adulthood. Study 1 was designed to identify the best factorial structure of the Prosociality Scale and Study 2 tested the model’s equivalence across five countries ( N = 1,630 young adults coming from China, Chile, Italy, Spain and the United States; general M age = 21.34; SD = 3.34). Findings supported a bifactor model in which prosocial responding was characterized by a general latent factor (i.e., prosociality) and two other specific factors (prosocial actions and prosocial feelings). New evidence of construct validity of the Prosociality Scale was provided.

Background: Psychological well-being and health-specific self-regulation have been associated with cardiovascular health. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal relationship of positivity and health-specific self-regulatory variables to health-related quality of life in patients with cardiovascular disease. Methods: A sample of 550 cardiac patients completed a number of instruments (positivity, regulatory emotional self-efficacy, and cardiac self-efficacy scales, and the general health questionnaire SF-12) on two occasions 9 months apart, assessing their level of positivity, health-specific self-efficacy beliefs, and health-related quality of life. Results: Mediational analyses demonstrated that health-specific self-efficacy beliefs mediate the relationship between positivity and health-related quality of life. In terms of self-efficacy in managing negative affect, the despondency-distress factor showed both direct and indirect effects on health, while the anger factor showed only an indirect effect. The results of the structural equation model demonstrated suitable indices of fit. Conclusions: Positivity may act as a disposition helps patients to use motivational strategies related to health, be more confident in their ability to regulate their emotions, and follow the recommendations of their cardiac medical team, enabling them to perceive a higher quality of life. These findings indicate the need to promote psychosocial interventions that include these variables.

The main goal of the present study was to analyse the effects of regulatory modes (i.e., assessment and locomotion) on both positivity and job satisfaction. Furthermore, we explored the mediating role of positivity in the relationship between regulatory modes and job satisfaction. In order to test our hypotheses, we recruited employees ( N = 563) from 8 Italian organizations, and obtained their individual (a) scores on the Regulatory Mode Scale, (b) ratings of positivity, and (c) overall job satisfaction. Two separate moderated multiple regression analyses were run to test the main effect and the interactions of the regulatory modes on the two outcome measures. In line with our hypotheses, the results revealed that assessment negatively predicted both positivity and job satisfaction, whereas locomotion positively predicted those variables. Furthermore, the results showed that employees showing a specific self-regulation pattern (i.e., the combination of high assessment and low locomotion) experienced lower positivity and lower job satisfaction. Finally, using a mediated moderation analysis, it was found that the relationship between regulatory modes and job satisfaction was significantly mediated by positivity.

Shyness in childhood has been linked to socio-emotional difficulties such as anxiety, depression, and loneliness. On the contrary, positivity (i.e., a personal tendency to see oneself, life, and future in a positive light) has been described as a protective factor. Given the challenges experienced by children during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., closure of school and confinement), we aimed to test the potential protective role of positivity and how it may link child shyness and indices of internalizing problems (i.e., anxiety, depression, loneliness) during the first wave of the pandemic. Participants were N = 236 children (M-age = 9.25 years, SD = 1.20) from Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom, the three worst-hit countries in Europe when the data were collected (April-June, 2020). Children completed online self-evaluation scales to assess temperamental shyness, positivity, and indices of internalizing problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from a multivariate regression analysis revealed significant interaction effects between shyness and positivity in the prediction of outcome variables. Follow-up simple slope analyses indicated that shyness was positively related to depression only among children with lower levels of positivity. The study highlights the role of children's positivity in buffering the pernicious link between shyness and their negative feelings during the pandemic. The practical implications of these findings are discussed.