International Cooperation in Developing Countries: Reducing Fatalism and Promoting Self-Efficacy to Ensure Sustainable Cooperation

Daniela Pajardi, Monia Vagni, Viviana La Spada and Serena Cubico
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Daniela Pajardi: Department of Humanities, University of Urbino, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Monia Vagni: Department of Humanities, University of Urbino, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Viviana La Spada: Department of Humanities, University of Urbino, 61029 Urbino, Italy
Serena Cubico: Department of Business Administration, University of Verona, Verona 37129, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: International cooperation projects aim to support populations in developing countries or affected by emergency situations and to promote their wellbeing in a coherent way and in line with the 10th Sustainable Development Goal and with the principles of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development. This study analyzed the ways in which such projects influence two psychosocial variables, fatalism and self-efficacy, which are of great importance in determining the attitude of people to promoting change and improving their living conditions by themselves. The sample ( N = 510) consists of adult users of Caritas Italiana projects in developing countries, namely, 161 individuals in Argentina, 123 in Bosnia, 96 in Sierra Leone, and 130 in Sri Lanka. The results indicate that the very fact of being involved in cooperation projects, both economic welfare and social promotion projects, favors a reduction in fatalistic attitudes and that greater perception of self-efficacy predicts a reduction in fatalism. Specific effects are presented in relation to the different cultures, and education levels of the countries analyzed.

Keywords: fatalism; self-efficacy; social cooperation; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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