The Disproportionate Impact of Negative Contact on Category Salience and Prejudice: Explaining Why Intergroup Interactions Can Be Harmful. The social psychological literature suggests that face-to-face interactions between people of rival groups will reduce mutual prejudice and discrimination. The present research tests the novel prediction that negative face-to-face interactions have a greater probability of worsening broad intergroup relations than positive face-to-face interactions have of im ....The Disproportionate Impact of Negative Contact on Category Salience and Prejudice: Explaining Why Intergroup Interactions Can Be Harmful. The social psychological literature suggests that face-to-face interactions between people of rival groups will reduce mutual prejudice and discrimination. The present research tests the novel prediction that negative face-to-face interactions have a greater probability of worsening broad intergroup relations than positive face-to-face interactions have of improving them. The research will benefit Australia by (a) explaining why intergroup conflict continues to be a key social issue in multicultural Australia despite increased intergroup interactions and by (b) informing policy makers about the social conditions that result in more conflicting intergroup relations as well as the social conditions that result in more harmonious relations.Read moreRead less
New Partnerships: Promoting development in outback towns through voluntary programs for Grey Nomads. Older retired Australians who undertake extensive independent travel through outback regions of Australia may potentially bring economic, human and social capital to areas of extreme isolation and disadvantage by engaging in volunteer programs of short to medium duration. Such programs would enable the sharing of information, and skills between locals and visitors and enable the development of lo ....New Partnerships: Promoting development in outback towns through voluntary programs for Grey Nomads. Older retired Australians who undertake extensive independent travel through outback regions of Australia may potentially bring economic, human and social capital to areas of extreme isolation and disadvantage by engaging in volunteer programs of short to medium duration. Such programs would enable the sharing of information, and skills between locals and visitors and enable the development of local facilities and services. Engagement in such programs may also potentially enhance the grey nomad experience, contributing to a healthy productive ageing lifestyle. Read moreRead less
Collective futures: The effects of beliefs about future states of society on the support for and enactment of social change. This research addresses a novel and potentially critical factor in support for social change, beliefs about society in the future, that helps build Australia's capacity to effectively address important social issues that depend on widespread support and action, such as climate change. The research provides a basis for a more informed public debate about these issues, and e ....Collective futures: The effects of beliefs about future states of society on the support for and enactment of social change. This research addresses a novel and potentially critical factor in support for social change, beliefs about society in the future, that helps build Australia's capacity to effectively address important social issues that depend on widespread support and action, such as climate change. The research provides a basis for a more informed public debate about these issues, and enhances the effectiveness of policy-makers and information campaigns. Scientifically, it enhances Australia's reputation as a leader in social change research. Read moreRead less
Parenting in an unsteady world across nations. Overinvolved and overcontrolling parenting seems to be on the rise as families are confronted with an unsteady world. This project aims to investigate how overparenting affects youth's achievements and well-being as they transition out of secondary school, and will isolate societal and cultural determinants of overparenting. This project will generate new knowledge on family influences on youth's progress, and will substantially contribute to an exi ....Parenting in an unsteady world across nations. Overinvolved and overcontrolling parenting seems to be on the rise as families are confronted with an unsteady world. This project aims to investigate how overparenting affects youth's achievements and well-being as they transition out of secondary school, and will isolate societal and cultural determinants of overparenting. This project will generate new knowledge on family influences on youth's progress, and will substantially contribute to an existing multinational study to identify macro social-cultural determinants of overcontrolling parenting. Expected outcomes are the generation of new knowledge relevant to family policy and practice within Australia, growth in cross-national collaborations, and new theories and methods.Read moreRead less
Public responses to alternative water supplies: the role of risk, beliefs and identity. The research aims to understand why community members accept or reject alternative water supplies options such as recycled water. The project significantly advances knowledge about this issue and provides important information to inform risk management and communication programs.
Transforming attitudes into action through identification under uncertainty. Basic and applied research are articulated with social practice and policy to develop new knowledge about the social psychology of societal innovation and social change. How, and under what conditions, can leaders and active minorities mobilise people to act in accordance with attitudes that accommodate changed circumstances? Our analysis integrates research on uncertainty, minority influence, and leadership, within the ....Transforming attitudes into action through identification under uncertainty. Basic and applied research are articulated with social practice and policy to develop new knowledge about the social psychology of societal innovation and social change. How, and under what conditions, can leaders and active minorities mobilise people to act in accordance with attitudes that accommodate changed circumstances? Our analysis integrates research on uncertainty, minority influence, and leadership, within the perspective of social identity theory and new attitude-behaviour relations research. This innovative integration significantly advances basic theory, and concretely addresses social change regarding cultural relations and immigration, sustainable natural resource management, healthy living, national economic activities, and business and organizational practices.
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Pathways to social cohesion and social change: opinion-based groups and the dynamic formation of identities. This project will update the understanding of political conflict by exploring groups based around shared opinions. It will show that groups are likely to be more successful in their political campaigns when they tie their causes to national and other positive identifies.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120101029
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Responding to humanitarian emergencies: mass generosity as collective action. The world has witnessed a string of disasters that, at times, appear to have pushed the human capacity for generosity to its limits. This ground-breaking psychological research explores ways to help government and nongovernment agencies to build broader support in Australian society for efforts to respond to humanitarian emergencies.
Facilitating the attainment of difficult goals: From theory to intervention. Being persistent in pursuing an important goal is glorified in society. People, however, often need to be strategic in their goal pursuits. A series of lab and field studies will aim to test how helping individuals to realise early in their goal striving whether their goal is attainable or not, can support them in making the right decision (persist with, abandon, or change the goal). The project will make novel contribu ....Facilitating the attainment of difficult goals: From theory to intervention. Being persistent in pursuing an important goal is glorified in society. People, however, often need to be strategic in their goal pursuits. A series of lab and field studies will aim to test how helping individuals to realise early in their goal striving whether their goal is attainable or not, can support them in making the right decision (persist with, abandon, or change the goal). The project will make novel contributions to theories of motivation and goal regulation. It will also have significant public benefit as it will provide the necessary evidence for the development of brief interventions that maximise the efficient use of individuals’ limited resources, facilitating individual and societal productivity and well-being.Read moreRead less
Harm inflation: Making sense of concept creep . This project aims to investigate our culture’s rising preoccupation with harm and clarify its causes and consequences. It will apply innovative computational tools for understanding cultural change which will create new knowledge of how concepts of harm have broadened their meanings in recent decades. It will explore societal and cultural drivers of these changes and their effects on diverse phenomena including help-seeking, over-diagnosis and pola ....Harm inflation: Making sense of concept creep . This project aims to investigate our culture’s rising preoccupation with harm and clarify its causes and consequences. It will apply innovative computational tools for understanding cultural change which will create new knowledge of how concepts of harm have broadened their meanings in recent decades. It will explore societal and cultural drivers of these changes and their effects on diverse phenomena including help-seeking, over-diagnosis and polarized moral judgment. The project will generate insight into important ongoing social changes and awareness of their positive and negative ramifications. It will provide significant benefits for our understanding of key challenges to mental health and social well-being.Read moreRead less