Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of a prolonged economic recession on the entrepreneurial intentions of young people (university students) distinguishing between propensity to start a new business (i.e. degree of interest in entrepreneurship) and perceived likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur (i.e. probability to start a business in the future). Furthermore this study verifies if the recession strengthens the orientation to exploit new market opportunities, or simply supports self-employment objectives. Design/methodology/approach: Entrepreneurial intention was measured in terms of propensity to start a new business and perceived likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur. Psychosocial and economic variables were measured as well. Information was gathered through questionnaires distributed in both electronic and paper-and-pencil form to a sample of 3,684 Italian University students enrolled in 12 different faculties. Findings: First, this study found that while the perception of the economic crisis as an obstacle to new business creation does not impact on the propensity toward entrepreneurship, it has a negative and highly significant impact on the likelihood to start a business. Second, when a distinction is made between opportunity- and necessity-based types, results show that while for the latter the crisis impacts only on the perceived likelihood to become an entrepreneur, for the former it affects both dimensions of entrepreneurship, i.e., both propensity and perceived likelihood. Moreover, neither family support nor economic institutions are perceived as relevant in sustaining entrepreneurial intentions. On the contrary, the university is considered as a key support entity. Research limitations/implications: Reliance on cross-sectional questionnaires instead of an experimental design imposes caution about the causal relationships between predictors and entrepreneurial intent. Originality/value: The present paper is one of the few studies concerning the influence of rapid worsening of external economic context (severe recession) on the entrepreneurial intent

The study of status differences between groups has been an important topic in intergroup relations research. In this work, status differences are typically operationalized in dyadic terms: i.e., high versus low status. Based on the social identity approach, we conducted a minimal group experiment to investigate intergroup behaviours in a three-group social hierarchy (high, intermediate, and low status; N=187). Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three groups and allocated resources in either limited or not limited resource conditions. Among others, results showed that participants in the intermediate status group were equally biased against both out-groups when resources were limited, while they were more biased against the high than the low status group when resources were unlimited. The results point to distinct psychological processes that operate in intermediate status groups.

This systematic review aimed to contribute to a better and more focused understanding of the link between the concept of resilience and psychosocial interventions in the migrant population. The research questions concerned the type of population involved, definition of resilience, methodological choices and which intervention programmes were targeted at migrants. In the 90 articles included, an heterogeneity in defining resilience or not well specified definition resulted. Different migratory experiences were not adequately considered in the selection of participants. Few resilience interventions on migrants were resulted. A lack of procedure’s descriptions that keep in account specific migrants’ life-experiences and efficacy’s measures were highlighted.

In two studies, the effect of instability of social stratification on intergroup behaviour of the intermediate-status group was investigated. In both studies, participants were categorised in the intermediate-status group. In Study 1, perceived instability was measured. Results show that the more social stratification was perceived as stable, the more intermediate-status group members were biased against the high-status group. Biases against both high- and low-status groups tended to become similar as social stratification was perceived as more unstable. In Study 2, instability was manipulated in upward and downward conditions. Results showed that, in the upwardly unstable condition, intermediate-status group members were more biased against high-status group, while in the downwardly unstable condition they were more biased against the low-status group.

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