Psychosocial influences determining Australians' sun safe practices: An examination of attitudes, norms, and control perceptions. Skin cancer accounts for approximately 80% of all new cancers diagnosed annually in Australia. As the performance of sun safe practices is dependent on individual decision-making processes, it is vital to understand the motivations underlying people's sun-protective actions. Identification of the important predictors of motivations to sun-protect will assist in develo ....Psychosocial influences determining Australians' sun safe practices: An examination of attitudes, norms, and control perceptions. Skin cancer accounts for approximately 80% of all new cancers diagnosed annually in Australia. As the performance of sun safe practices is dependent on individual decision-making processes, it is vital to understand the motivations underlying people's sun-protective actions. Identification of the important predictors of motivations to sun-protect will assist in developing specific in-class and online intervention strategies to increase people's performance of sun safety behaviours. The results of the proposed research have significant implications for reducing the incidence of non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancer and sun-related damage in a high risk context, ultimately reducing skin-cancer morbidity and mortality rates.Read moreRead less
Affective influences social thinking and behaviour: A social neuroscience approach. Affective states have a major influence on how people think and behave in everyday life. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms producing these effects remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate how external situations and internal cognitive and neurological mechanisms interact to facilitate or inhibit affective influences on judgments and behaviour. The project will also develop and ....Affective influences social thinking and behaviour: A social neuroscience approach. Affective states have a major influence on how people think and behave in everyday life. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms producing these effects remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate how external situations and internal cognitive and neurological mechanisms interact to facilitate or inhibit affective influences on judgments and behaviour. The project will also develop and test an innovative information processing theory of affective influences, and develop new empirical methods for measuring the cognitive and behavioural consequences of affect. Studies will also investigate the influence of affect on clinical, organisational, educational and health outcomes, and on various real-life behaviours.
Read moreRead less
Feeling, thinking and doing: Affective influences on social cognition and behaviour. Affect has a major influence on how people think and behave in social situations, yet the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. The proposed experiments will investigate the circumstances that facilitate or inhibit affect infusion into social thinking, judgments and behaviours and explore the real-life consequences of these effects. A comprehensive theoretical mod ....Feeling, thinking and doing: Affective influences on social cognition and behaviour. Affect has a major influence on how people think and behave in social situations, yet the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. The proposed experiments will investigate the circumstances that facilitate or inhibit affect infusion into social thinking, judgments and behaviours and explore the real-life consequences of these effects. A comprehensive theoretical model, the recently revised Affect Infusion Model will be tested as an integrative explanation for affect infusion phenomena.Read moreRead less
Regulating anger: Cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, and post-event rumination. Australians bear the substantial psychological, social, and economic costs associated with unrestrained anger. Anger problems are associated with school and work difficulties, poor social relationship quality, alcohol and drug use, financial and legal difficulties, premature cardiovascular mortality, and clinically significant mental health problems. Anger and aggression also cause much harm to society th ....Regulating anger: Cognitive reappraisal, emotional suppression, and post-event rumination. Australians bear the substantial psychological, social, and economic costs associated with unrestrained anger. Anger problems are associated with school and work difficulties, poor social relationship quality, alcohol and drug use, financial and legal difficulties, premature cardiovascular mortality, and clinically significant mental health problems. Anger and aggression also cause much harm to society through crime, domestic abuse, and workplace violence among others. The Australian Institute of Criminology estimates the cost of assault, sexual assault, and homicide in Australia at over $2.5 billion per year. The insights gained from this research may help ameliorate these negative consequences of anger.Read moreRead less
Narrative Social Influence: Narrative Communication as an Effective Means of Public Health Campaign. Mass media has been used for public health campaigns with varying degrees of success. This project aims to improve their effectiveness in modifying public attitudes and behaviour to reduce the risk of life style diseases such as cancer, stroke, and heart disease. In particular, the project investigates the effectiveness of narrative as a means of social influence by examining whether it can effec ....Narrative Social Influence: Narrative Communication as an Effective Means of Public Health Campaign. Mass media has been used for public health campaigns with varying degrees of success. This project aims to improve their effectiveness in modifying public attitudes and behaviour to reduce the risk of life style diseases such as cancer, stroke, and heart disease. In particular, the project investigates the effectiveness of narrative as a means of social influence by examining whether it can effectively communicate an appropriate health promoting behaviour to the public, while encouraging people to disseminate the message to others interpersonally, so that not only mass media but also the community itself acts as an agent of social influence.Read moreRead less
The social and cognitive functions of affect. Dealing with affective problems represents a major challenge in clinical, health, organisational and counselling psychology. Yet the role that affective states play in thinking, judgments and many everyday social behaviours remains poorly understood.. This project will produce direct national and community benefit by developing a new, integrative theory of affective influences on thinking and action, and exploring the functions and processing consequ ....The social and cognitive functions of affect. Dealing with affective problems represents a major challenge in clinical, health, organisational and counselling psychology. Yet the role that affective states play in thinking, judgments and many everyday social behaviours remains poorly understood.. This project will produce direct national and community benefit by developing a new, integrative theory of affective influences on thinking and action, and exploring the functions and processing consequences of affect in everyday settings. The real-life consequences of affect infusion in applied areas will also be explored. The project will also contribute to Australia's research capability by training doctoral and postdoctoral students, and fostering international research collaboration.Read moreRead less
Hearts and minds: Affect, thinking and behaviour. Understanding the influence of affect on health, adjustment and on many everyday behaviours remains an enduring puzzle. This project will produce direct national and community benefit by developing a new, integrative theory of affective influences on thinking and action, and exploring the mechanisms that facilitate or inhibit affective influences on everyday behaviours. The real-life consequences of affect infusion in health, organisational, educ ....Hearts and minds: Affect, thinking and behaviour. Understanding the influence of affect on health, adjustment and on many everyday behaviours remains an enduring puzzle. This project will produce direct national and community benefit by developing a new, integrative theory of affective influences on thinking and action, and exploring the mechanisms that facilitate or inhibit affective influences on everyday behaviours. The real-life consequences of affect infusion in health, organisational, educational, marketing and clinical settings will also be explored. The project will also contribute to Australia's research capability by training doctoral and postdoctoral students, and fostering international research collaboration.Read moreRead less
Influence of Narrative Content and Context of Anti-smoking Public Health Messages. By improving the effectiveness of public health campaigns such as those aimed at smokers, we can inform people about healthier ways of living, and encourage them to adopt healthier life style choices. This should reduce the risk of life style diseases such as cancer, stroke, and heart attack. This project will contribute to the promotion and maintenance of good health in the Australian community by facilitating pr ....Influence of Narrative Content and Context of Anti-smoking Public Health Messages. By improving the effectiveness of public health campaigns such as those aimed at smokers, we can inform people about healthier ways of living, and encourage them to adopt healthier life style choices. This should reduce the risk of life style diseases such as cancer, stroke, and heart attack. This project will contribute to the promotion and maintenance of good health in the Australian community by facilitating preventive health care and help to reduce the medical cost not only to those who may fall victim to the diseases, but also to their families, communities, states, and Australia as a whole.Read moreRead less
The cognitive and motivational consequences of affect in interpersonal behavior. Affect plays a major role in health and social adjustment and has a marked influence on many everyday behaviours, yet the mechanisms linking affect to thinking and behaviour remain poorly understood. These studies will produce a national and community benefit by contributing to our understanding of how affect influences thinking and behaviour. The project will develop a new, comprehensive theory of affective influen ....The cognitive and motivational consequences of affect in interpersonal behavior. Affect plays a major role in health and social adjustment and has a marked influence on many everyday behaviours, yet the mechanisms linking affect to thinking and behaviour remain poorly understood. These studies will produce a national and community benefit by contributing to our understanding of how affect influences thinking and behaviour. The project will develop a new, comprehensive theory of affective influences and the real-life consequences of affect in relationships, health, organisational, educational, marketing and clinical settings will also be explored. The project will contribute to Australia's research capability by training doctoral and postdoctoral students, and fostering international research collaboration.
Read moreRead less
Peer Rejection and the Maladaptive Social Behaviour of Children and Adolescents. Research indicates that peer rejection has serious negative effects on child and adolescent victims. However, little research has addressed the likelihood that peer rejection also has negative consequences for others in the social environment, through its instigation of maladaptive social behaviours such as bullying and ethnic prejudice. Given the incidence of the latter behaviours in primary and secondary schools, ....Peer Rejection and the Maladaptive Social Behaviour of Children and Adolescents. Research indicates that peer rejection has serious negative effects on child and adolescent victims. However, little research has addressed the likelihood that peer rejection also has negative consequences for others in the social environment, through its instigation of maladaptive social behaviours such as bullying and ethnic prejudice. Given the incidence of the latter behaviours in primary and secondary schools, the aim of this project is to conduct a program of research to test an integrative model of the impact of peer rejection on the maladaptive social behaviours of children and adolescents, with a particular focus on ethnic prejudice and bullying.Read moreRead less