The goal of the 5-day program is to provide participants with a multidisciplinary perspective on how socioeconomic inequality impacts psychological well-being. In addition, one of the goals of the winter school is to establish and develop a series of group projects to foster new collaborations and ideas to improve well-being of people who are hit the most by inequality. Leading international researchers will be among the speakers of the winter school (see: program). Psychology can provide important theoretical and practical tools to understand and counteract the effects of socioeconomic inequality and the winter school will enhance participants’ knowledge in multiple ways by combining several approaches. In addition, practitioners who work on projects that improve social connection among people will be among the speakers. They will share their experience in order to explain what it takes to make a real impact on people’s lives.

Two different types of activities are planed during the 5-day program:

- Lectures

- Group projects

Lectures have the important goal of presenting cutting edge research and applied work on the psychological impact of inequality by bridging together the views of the different psychological areas touched by the winter school. This is a central feature of the winter school since both speakers and participants will have slightly different backgrounds.

Group projects aim at increasing the interaction between the participants and also between participants and speakers in order to develop new collaborations and innovative research proposals. Group projects are also important because they will allow to increase the multidisciplinary of the approach to the subject of the winter school. Each group will be advised by a keynote speaker in order to receive immediate feedback and insights on the ideas being developed. On the final day of the winter school each group will be asked to present their research plan in a plenary session.

Specific topics include:

- Policy implications of research on income inequality.

- Differences in psychological well-being between societies with high versus low inequality.

- How individual differences and genetic factors influence well-being and coping with the effects of inequality

- Interplay between income and inequality and how they shape perception of the socioeconomic environment (e.g., attitude towards immigrants).

- How poverty and inequality impacts judgment and decision-making processes.

- How inequality impacts on child development.

International speakers:
Richard Wilkinson (Equality Trust)
Michael Pluess (Queen Mary University, School of Biological and Chemical Studies)
Kate Pickett (University of York, Department of Health Sciences)
Jolanda Jetten (The University of Queensland, School of Psychology)

Local speakers:
Enrico Rubaltelli
Maja Roch
Roberto De Vogli

Practitioners:
Social Street (http://www.socialstreet.it/international/info-english/)

School coordinator
Enrico Rubaltelli, Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Italy

Organizing assistant
Marta Caserotti, Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padova, Italy