COVID‐19 in our lives: Sense of community, sense of community responsibility, and reflexivity in present concerns and perception of the future

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the association between citizens' perceptions of the effectiveness of the institutional response, their connection and responsibility to their community (Sense of Community-SoC; Sense of Community Responsibility-SoC-R), and their personal and social concerns about the current emergency and their perceptions of a postpandemic future during the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Another variable considered was the personal reflexivity about the COVID-19 pandemic. 3925 Italian adults completed an online questionnaire during the first COVID-19 lockdown. A structural equation model with mediation was tested. Institutional effectiveness was associated with SoC, SoC-R, current social concerns, and perceptions of a postpandemic future. SoC and SoC-R were associated with current personal and social concerns, and perceptions of a postpandemic future. Reflexivity was negatively associated with SoC and positively associated with SoC-R, mediating the relationships between SoC, SoC-R and current personal and social

Protective and risk social dimensions of emergency remote teaching during COVID‐19 pandemic: A multiple mediation study

“…That is, teachers may have adapted to the changes into their overall daily life and routines by focusing on the need to develop new teaching strategies and approaches to successfully manage the specific job‐related changes and the challenges they brought about—which may have represented a type of self‐distracting coping strategy (Procentese & Gatti et al, 2021 ). On the other hand, the community of belonging emerges as a relational asset on which individuals may have relied to support each other in facing the needed changes and adapting to them (Gatti & Procentese, 2021 ; Gattino et al, 2021 ; Procentese et al, 2020 , 2022 ). Building on this, the need to plan interventions aimed at strengthening school/academic communities and valuing them as resources on which their members can rely in the face of high stress rates clearly stems, echoing what emerged from previous studies about such communities (Admiraal & Lockhorst, 2012 ; McNally et al, 2009 ; Procentese et al, 2020 , 2022 ).…”

“…The feeling to belong and to be bonded to a cohesive community—characterized by reciprocal attention to everyone's needs and opportunities for reciprocal support—represents a protective factor supporting individuals' adaptation to new life circumstances, well‐being, and efficacy I the face of disruptive events, as showed by recent studies about COVID‐19 pandemic (Gatti & Procentese, 2021 ; Gattino et al, 2021 ; Guidetti & Albanesi, 2021 ; Mannarini et al, 2021 ; Procentese et al, 2020 , 2022 ; Tzankova et al, 2022 ). Indeed, the bond to one's community of belonging “provides individuals with a sense of meaning and continuity, belonging and safety, affirmation, and mattering” (Procentese et al, 2020 , p. 3); it can help them thinking up individual and collective strategies to face challenges and stressful circumstances, broad workloads, and daily needs (Keyes, 2005 ; Scotto di Luzio et al, 2014 ), fostering a more proactive attitude toward the needed changes (Corzine et al, 2017 ; Drzensky et al, 2012 ).…”

“…Indeed, it associates with both teachers' job‐related efficacy and satisfaction (Brissie et al, 1988 ; Petrillo & Donizzetti, 2013 ) and with the perception of school/academic communities as open, interactive, collaborative, and supportive (Admiraal & Lockhorst, 2012 ). Further, as mentioned above, a cohesive community of belonging and a strong bond to it can represent protective factors supporting individuals' adjustment to the new life circumstances, well‐being, and efficacy in the face of COVID‐19 outbreak, preventing increases in their stress rates (Gatti & Procentese, 2021 ; Gattino et al, 2021 ; Guidetti & Albanesi, 2021 ; Procentese et al, 2020 , 2022 ; Tzankova et al, 2022 ). Building on this, the relationship of SoC with job‐related efficacy and satisfaction will be tested with reference to teachers' pandemic experience too:…”

The selective effect of lockdown experience on citizens' perspectives: A multilevel, multiple informant approach to personal and community resilience during COVID‐19 pandemic

“…They brought about several psychological consequences, among which anxiety and depression stemmed (Pancani, Marinucci, Aureli, & Riva, 2021 ; Salari et al, 2020 ; Vindegaard & Benros, 2020 ), along with more pessimistic future perspectives and concerns for current circumstances and for the opportunities for personal growth (Procentese et al, 2021 ; Procentese, Gatti, & Ceglie, 2021 ; Torales, O'Higgins, Castaldelli‐Maia, & Ventriglio, 2020 ; Varga et al, 2021 ). However, some positive and adaptive reactions aimed at coping with these needed restrictions emerged too (Asmundson, Paluszek, & Taylor, 2021 ; Gattino et al, 2022 ; Migliorini et al, 2021 ; Procentese, Esposito, et al, 2021 ; Tamiolaki & Kalaitzaki, 2020 ), suggesting that COVID‐19 pandemic could have also led to post‐traumatic personal growth (e.g., Jenkins et al, 2021 ; Ulset & von Soest, 2022 ), which consists in positive psychological changes in the face of traumatic experiences (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004 ). Indeed, during the enforcement of stay‐at‐home orders individuals endeavoured to self‐distract, to engage in new activities and hobbies, and to make the most out of that unforeseen experience by relying on their own assets (e.g., Gaboardi et al, 2022 ; Procentese, Esposito, et al, 2021 ) as well as on community‐related ones (e.g., Gattino et al, 2022 ; Migliorini et al, 2021 ; Procentese, Capone, Caso, Donizzetti, & Gatti, 2020 ).…”

Social resilience of indigenous community on the border: Belief and confidence in anticipating the spread of COVID‐19 through the Besamsam custom in the Dayak community

“…Therefore, the prohibition imposed through the ritual of Besamsam is behaviour based on concern over the “ bala ” (misfortune), which is a form of Jubata 's wrath. Thus, people can be controlled through communities that are shaped on the basis of civic activities that create progress in society rather than political institutions (Chua, Kadirvelu, Yasin, Choudhry, & Park, 2019 ; Gattino, Rizzo, Gatti, & Albanesi, 2021 ; Mannarini et al, 2021 ; Xie, Sundararaj, & Rejeesh, 2021 ).…”