Re: exceprted from the new "DAYD" mod post
"which my Italian forebears would have called spirito della famiglia"

Those Italian forebears didn't speak very idiomatic Italian, apparently! "Spirito della famiglia" doesn't mean "family-like atmosphere"--it means "family tradition" or "family characteristics over time" or "emphasis on family."

I think this person was taking "spirito di gruppo," which does mean "team spirit" in the US/UK sense, and assuming one could just substitute "della famiglia" for "di gruppo" and it would work.