Investigating a New Explanation of Discrimination Against Migrant and Excluded People. Migrants and socially excluded people are often the subjects of discrimination and prejudice. Our research will provide valuable knowledge about when and why people discriminate against migrant and excluded individuals as well as how this type of behaviour can be reduced. Our research will benefit Australia by contributing scientific information to the policy developments of national organizations that aim to ....Investigating a New Explanation of Discrimination Against Migrant and Excluded People. Migrants and socially excluded people are often the subjects of discrimination and prejudice. Our research will provide valuable knowledge about when and why people discriminate against migrant and excluded individuals as well as how this type of behaviour can be reduced. Our research will benefit Australia by contributing scientific information to the policy developments of national organizations that aim to reduce discrimination and prejudice. Hence, our research falls within the Government's broader goal of creating a more harmonious multicultural Australian society.Read moreRead less
On feeling good and succeeding: Identifying the antecedents of emotional well-being and school success amongst adolescents. We propose a multi-wave longitudinal study of all high school students in the Wollongong Catholic Diocese, identifying the psychological predictors of academic and emotional problems. We will track students and monitor the influence over time of a comprehensive set of predictors, examining their unique effects on the trajectories of educational and emotional outcomes. The s ....On feeling good and succeeding: Identifying the antecedents of emotional well-being and school success amongst adolescents. We propose a multi-wave longitudinal study of all high school students in the Wollongong Catholic Diocese, identifying the psychological predictors of academic and emotional problems. We will track students and monitor the influence over time of a comprehensive set of predictors, examining their unique effects on the trajectories of educational and emotional outcomes. The study will inform us about the developmental processes through which youth pass, leading to a new model of the psychological processes involved in academic and emotional outcomes. This model will enhance future intervention programmes with youth at risk of academic and emotional problems.Read moreRead less
Responding to fire-related stressors in the workplace: An examination of the role of social support from a group processes perspective. This research has significant national benefit and will result in basic and applied outcomes. At the basic level, the research will result in a better understanding of the way in which social support reduces the impact of stressors and stimulate new avenues of research in the fields of workplace stress and social identity. At a more applied level, the research p ....Responding to fire-related stressors in the workplace: An examination of the role of social support from a group processes perspective. This research has significant national benefit and will result in basic and applied outcomes. At the basic level, the research will result in a better understanding of the way in which social support reduces the impact of stressors and stimulate new avenues of research in the fields of workplace stress and social identity. At a more applied level, the research program will provide the grounding for a future intervention designed to reduce the social costs of workplace fires. It is expected that such an intervention would be associated with several economic and social benefits such as a reduction in sick leave, employee turnover, and losses in productivity, and improved outcomes for employees in terms of psychological well-being.Read moreRead less
Fitting in and making friends: The psycho-social underpinnings of children's adaptation to school. This project has four areas of national benefit: It will provide vital information for researchers, educators and clinicians about the psycho-social processes underpinning children's social integration within the classroom; Key factors that assist in school transition will be identified, thus presenting the opportunity for early identification of children at risk of social exclusion; This work will ....Fitting in and making friends: The psycho-social underpinnings of children's adaptation to school. This project has four areas of national benefit: It will provide vital information for researchers, educators and clinicians about the psycho-social processes underpinning children's social integration within the classroom; Key factors that assist in school transition will be identified, thus presenting the opportunity for early identification of children at risk of social exclusion; This work will facilitate the extension of existing models of School Readiness and child-school transition, and contribute to Australia's international profile for conducting influential and cutting-edge research. Given the involvement of research students, this research will promote future research directions of upcoming Australian researchers.Read moreRead less
Persuasion through numbers: How majority and minority groups can change peoples’ attitudes and be agents of innovation and social change. Project develops a social psychological understanding of how people process, and are influenced by, persuasive arguments endorsed by majority and minority groups. New techniques examine which source (majority vs. minority) is associated with most message processing, the consequence of message processing to attitude change, and factors that affect the ability/ ....Persuasion through numbers: How majority and minority groups can change peoples’ attitudes and be agents of innovation and social change. Project develops a social psychological understanding of how people process, and are influenced by, persuasive arguments endorsed by majority and minority groups. New techniques examine which source (majority vs. minority) is associated with most message processing, the consequence of message processing to attitude change, and factors that affect the ability/motivation to engage in message processing. Project extends theory by developing a framework that is tested across new paradigms (including rare group studies). Results will increase understanding of when, and how, majorities and minorities change attitudes (and when they fail) which is valuable for practitioners and policy-makers involved in managing change.Read moreRead less
Recruiting and retaining Australian blood donors: A social-psychological analysis of the role of attitudes, identity, and norms. There has been little theory-based research examining the psychosocial predictors of blood donation, especially repeat blood donation, within an Australian context. This research seeks to assess the role of attitudes, identity and norms in predicting blood donation within rural and urban settings (Study 1) and for repeat blood donation amongst early career donors (Stud ....Recruiting and retaining Australian blood donors: A social-psychological analysis of the role of attitudes, identity, and norms. There has been little theory-based research examining the psychosocial predictors of blood donation, especially repeat blood donation, within an Australian context. This research seeks to assess the role of attitudes, identity and norms in predicting blood donation within rural and urban settings (Study 1) and for repeat blood donation amongst early career donors (Study 2). Study 3 will comprise two interventions designed to promote attitudinal and behavioural change for both blood donation initiation amongst current non-donors and repeat blood donation for early career donors. Identifying the predictors of blood donation for new and repeat donors will assist in the provision of this vital service within Australian health care settings.Read moreRead less
What makes unwritten rules work? A framework for understanding normative influence. Societies are regulated primarily by norms, which are unwritten, informal rules for appropriate behaviour. Governments, religious and cultural groups, and even families can all actively campaign to change people's standards or norms for behaviour. However, often people ignore the normative messages. As one example, child obesity rates in Australia continue to grow, despite years of campaigns on this issue. S ....What makes unwritten rules work? A framework for understanding normative influence. Societies are regulated primarily by norms, which are unwritten, informal rules for appropriate behaviour. Governments, religious and cultural groups, and even families can all actively campaign to change people's standards or norms for behaviour. However, often people ignore the normative messages. As one example, child obesity rates in Australia continue to grow, despite years of campaigns on this issue. Sometimes normative campaigns can even increase the problems they're trying to solve. For example, some research shows children targeted with anti-drug messages are more likely to abuse drugs. This research tests why normative campaigns fail, and how to solve the problem.Read moreRead less
Promoting intergroup forgiveness: The benefits and pitfalls of apologies and invocations of shared humanity. In the last 200 years Australians have found themselves as both perpetrators and victims of historical transgressions. This history of transgression has ongoing implications for how Australians deal with the present. It has implications for how Australians relate to Japan, for example, and has implications for relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The proposed resea ....Promoting intergroup forgiveness: The benefits and pitfalls of apologies and invocations of shared humanity. In the last 200 years Australians have found themselves as both perpetrators and victims of historical transgressions. This history of transgression has ongoing implications for how Australians deal with the present. It has implications for how Australians relate to Japan, for example, and has implications for relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The proposed research offers fresh ideas for understanding and promoting intergroup reconciliation and forgiveness. This information will contribute to the development of effective strategies for reconciling with the past, which will enhance our ability to anticipate and tackle critical threats to the cohesiveness of Australian society.Read moreRead less
What people say and do in response to negative feedback: Explaining and reducing defensiveness toward individual and group criticism. This research will allow us to devise, for the first time, a comprehensive account of how people respond to criticism, not just of their groups but also of themselves as individuals. The first part of the project (focusing on criticism of groups) will help provide specific recommendations regarding how to negotiate sensitive issues within and between a range of cu ....What people say and do in response to negative feedback: Explaining and reducing defensiveness toward individual and group criticism. This research will allow us to devise, for the first time, a comprehensive account of how people respond to criticism, not just of their groups but also of themselves as individuals. The first part of the project (focusing on criticism of groups) will help provide specific recommendations regarding how to negotiate sensitive issues within and between a range of cultural, national, and corporate groups. The second part of the project (focusing on criticism of individuals) will provide specific recommendations regarding how to deliver negative feedback to individuals, a skill that is particularly important in educational contexts and in the workplace. Read moreRead less
Leadership, social identity and the dynamics of influence in intergroup relations: A new understanding of social continuity and social change. Understanding how social change occurs (or continuity prevails) and the role of leadership in this process is paramount to any social system (e.g. nation, state, organization, team). This project provides a new social psychological understanding of leadership and social change dynamics, including when more radical leaders and social relations emerge, as w ....Leadership, social identity and the dynamics of influence in intergroup relations: A new understanding of social continuity and social change. Understanding how social change occurs (or continuity prevails) and the role of leadership in this process is paramount to any social system (e.g. nation, state, organization, team). This project provides a new social psychological understanding of leadership and social change dynamics, including when more radical leaders and social relations emerge, as well as how different groups become more united around a common cause. Given ethnic, religious, social and political diversity of Australian society, these questions are fundamental to strengthening Australia's social fabric. This research also has cross-disciplinary applications, builds international collaborations, and supports emerging Australian research talent.Read moreRead less