Honesty and efficiency in the provision of expert services: doctors and other experts as participants in economic experiments. Experts serve us when we see the doctor, the financial planner or the car mechanic. In all these case the expert can take advantage of his superior knowledge and sell us something we do not need. This research will inform policy makers about the underlying motives of real world experts and allow them to design better institutions.
Heart rate variability biofeedback coaching in reducing workplace stress: laboratory and field investigations. Targeted and informed intervention in workplace stress is a vital concept in stress management, yet it is often misinformed. Using mobile heart rate monitors we are able to measure the causes and consequences of stress in a controlled and natural environment and design specific biofeedback interventions to attack primary sources of employee strain.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120100359
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Intergenerational demands as a double-edged sword in the work context. Due to rapid population ageing, an increasing number of Australian workers will need to provide care to older people or mentor younger workers and successors. This project investigates how personal and organisational resources can reduce negative outcomes and maximise positive outcomes of intergenerational demands in the work context.
Developing and testing dynamic models of goal striving in approach and avoidance contexts. This project will examine how people manage competing goals, such as productivity and safety, in a dynamic environment. The results will improve understanding of human motivation and have implications for practice in military, industrial and commercial settings.
When and How Does High Pressure Supervision become Abusive? Employees in both public and private sector organisations are today being urged to do more with less. Consequently work team supervisors are under pressure to demand more effort from subordinates. But when does this cross the line to become abusive supervision? This project proposes to develop and test a framework intended to explain, from an employee's perspective, how supervisors can motivate their subordinates to perform and at the s ....When and How Does High Pressure Supervision become Abusive? Employees in both public and private sector organisations are today being urged to do more with less. Consequently work team supervisors are under pressure to demand more effort from subordinates. But when does this cross the line to become abusive supervision? This project proposes to develop and test a framework intended to explain, from an employee's perspective, how supervisors can motivate their subordinates to perform and at the same time avoid being seen as abusive. The project includes three studies whose results aim to have both theoretical and practical implications, and in particular to help supervisors to understand their subordinates' behaviours, leading to improved employee wellbeing and organisational productivity.Read moreRead less
Development of psychological capital in emergency service organisations. The project addresses the research priorities ‘Promoting good health and well being for all Australians’ and Safeguarding Australia. The project will identify ways in which the performance and wellbeing of volunteer and paid members of emergency service organisations can be enhanced, potentially diminishing the likelihood of depression, aggression, and other detrimental effects. The findings will also contribute to the qual ....Development of psychological capital in emergency service organisations. The project addresses the research priorities ‘Promoting good health and well being for all Australians’ and Safeguarding Australia. The project will identify ways in which the performance and wellbeing of volunteer and paid members of emergency service organisations can be enhanced, potentially diminishing the likelihood of depression, aggression, and other detrimental effects. The findings will also contribute to the quality of training provided to leaders in emergency services. Theoretically, the project will advance understanding of the mechanisms that underpin the psychological capital construct, placing Australian researchers at the forefront of this important emerging field of inquiry.Read moreRead less
A general theory of multiple-goal pursuit. The aim of this project is to develop and test a formal theory that explains the mechanisms by which people make choices amongst competing goals in a dynamic and uncertain environment (‘multiple goal pursuit’). People have to manage competing goals in a wide range of settings (for example, work, education, sport), yet the mechanisms are poorly understood. The theory is expected to integrate formal theories of self-regulation with formal theories of deci ....A general theory of multiple-goal pursuit. The aim of this project is to develop and test a formal theory that explains the mechanisms by which people make choices amongst competing goals in a dynamic and uncertain environment (‘multiple goal pursuit’). People have to manage competing goals in a wide range of settings (for example, work, education, sport), yet the mechanisms are poorly understood. The theory is expected to integrate formal theories of self-regulation with formal theories of decision making, to provide a more general account of multiple goal pursuit. The project aims to test the predictions of the theory in a series of experiments in which people have to pursue two goals simultaneously. The experiments allow us to test competing views, and understand the mechanisms involved.Read moreRead less
Employee wellbeing and productivity: the role of territoriality, conflict and emotions. Australia is investing billions in redesigning modern office spaces, but the effect of office layout on employees is still not well understood. Using innovative real-time data collection techniques, an international team will study the effect of office layout and develop a training package to improve office-worker productivity and wellbeing.
Managing anger responses to perceptions of unfair managerial treatment. Workers' experience of anger at work can be distracting and result in lower performance, which contributes to lower productivity in the Australian economy. This project seeks to understand this phenomenon and offer solutions for minimising the impact of anger at work for both individuals and workgroups.
A multi-level approach to the management of demands and resources to minimise the risk of psychosocial injury in the workplace. This project aims to identify ways supervisors can effectively manage workplace stress experienced by team members. Expected outcomes include better management of workplace stress and reduction in the number of employees suffering from the stress-induced ill-health, thereby reducing workers' compensation claims for stress and lowering costs.