Author Archives: Giorgio Bertini

About Giorgio Bertini

Research Professor. Founder Director at Learning Change Project - Research on society, culture, art, neuroscience, cognition, critical thinking, intelligence, creativity, autopoiesis, self-organization, rhizomes, complexity, systems, networks, leadership, sustainability, thinkers, futures ++

How can we amplify impact to foster transformative change?

Posted on October 27, 2020

How can the impact of sustainability and other initiatives be scaled or amplified to achieve transformative change? There are hundreds of promising sustainability initiatives emerging around the world. A sustainability initiative is, for example, a local food initiative from citizens … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized

Let’s Dance Together: Synchrony, Shared Intentionality and Cooperation

Posted on October 23, 2020

Previous research has shown that the matching of rhythmic behaviour between individuals (synchrony) increases cooperation. Such synchrony is most noticeable in music, dance and collective rituals. As well as the matching of behaviour, such collective performances typically involve shared intentionality: … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooperation, Shared intentionality, Synchronization | Tagged , ,

Kindness Counts: Prompting Prosocial Behavior in Preadolescents Boosts Peer Acceptance and Well-Being

Posted on October 23, 2020

At the top of parents’ many wishes is for their children to be happy, to be good, and to be well-liked. Our findings suggest that these goals may not only be compatible but also reciprocal. In a longitudinal experiment conducted … Continue reading →

Posted in Adolescents, Prosocial behavior, Prosociality | Tagged , ,

Early Development of Prosocial Behavior: Current Perspectives

Posted on October 23, 2020

It is now clear that prosocial behavior of many different sorts appears in the second year of life, possibly earlier for some forms. In a growing number of studies, infants between 12 and 24 months of age have been shown … Continue reading →

Posted in Prosocial behavior, Prosociality | Tagged ,

Interpersonal synchrony feels good but impedes self-regulation of affect

Posted on October 23, 2020

The social benefits of interpersonal synchrony are widely recognized. Yet, little is known about its impact on the self. According to enactive cognitive science, the human self for its stability and regulation needs to balance social attunement with disengagement from … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpersonal synchrony | Tagged

Sync or sink? Interpersonal synchrony impacts self-esteem

Posted on October 23, 2020

Synchronized behavior has significant social influence both in terms of everyday activities (e.g., walking and talking) as well as via more historical contexts (e.g., cultural rituals). Grounded in the science of coordination dynamics, previous research has revealed that interpersonal synchrony … Continue reading →

Posted in Interpersonal synchrony, Self‐esteem, Social connections | Tagged , ,

Helicopter Parenting May Negatively Affect Emotional Well-Being and Behavior of Children

Posted on October 23, 2020

It’s natural for parents to do whatever they can to keep their children safe and healthy, but children need space to learn and grow on their own, without Mom or Dad hovering over them, according to new research published by … Continue reading →

Posted in Parenting, Parents | Tagged ,

Exploring the Benefits of Doll Play Through Neuroscience

Posted on October 22, 2020

It has long been hypothesized that pretend play is beneficial to social and cognitive development. However, there is little evidence regarding the neural regions that are active while children engage in pretend play. We examined the activation of prefrontal and … Continue reading →

Posted in Neuroscience, Play | Tagged ,

The Effects of Empathy, Emotional Intelligence and Psychopathy on Interpersonal Interactions

Posted on October 22, 2020

The current study investigated the relationships between empathy (emotional and cognitive), emotional intelligence, psychopathy, emotional contagion, and non-conscious behavioural mimicry (smiles and hand scratches), using self-report scales and a script-based interview session exhibiting nine non-verbal gestures, on a student sample. … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotional intelligence, Empathy, Interpersonal interaction | Tagged , ,

Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Health Behaviours among University Students

Posted on October 22, 2020

This study investigated the role of gender as a potential predictor of health behaviour and potential moderator of the relationship between emotional intelligence and health behaviour. This cross-sectional study included 1214 students (597 males and 617 females). Data were collected … Continue reading →

Posted in Emotional intelligence, Health | Tagged ,