Managing compliance with procedural justice: The role of motivational postures, legitimacy and emotion. Regulatory authorities exist to ensure that members of the public comply with their obligations under the law. At the same time, however, regulators should not exercise their authority in ways that result in the alienation of the public. Using social science methodology, this project will examine the role that procedurally fair regulation can play in promoting trust and confidence in authoriti ....Managing compliance with procedural justice: The role of motivational postures, legitimacy and emotion. Regulatory authorities exist to ensure that members of the public comply with their obligations under the law. At the same time, however, regulators should not exercise their authority in ways that result in the alienation of the public. Using social science methodology, this project will examine the role that procedurally fair regulation can play in promoting trust and confidence in authorities. The national and community benefits of this project will include ascertaining how greater levels of cooperation and compliance with regulatory decisions and laws can be facilitated; particularly among those who may feel disgruntled with their experiences with authority.Read moreRead less
Enhancing outcomes for separated families by improving family mediation. More than 100,000 adults and 60,000 children experience family breakdown each year in Australia, which wreaks enormous personal, social, and economic costs. This project aims to develop more effective ways to mediate disputes over shared parenting after family breakdown.
How economic prosperity hardens attitudes towards minorities. Most explanations for the current rise in popularity of anti-immigrant parties focus on economic hardship following the Global Financial Crisis, thereby being unable to account for the finding that support for such parties also increases in times of economic prosperity. For the first time, this project will provide a complete account of these relationships.
Consequences of inequality on social behaviour and political attitudes. This project aims to reveal how economic inequality shapes dynamics between groups within societies. Income inequality has effects beyond health but its effects on social behaviour and political attitudes are poorly understood. This project will move beyond a focus on the health and well-being costs of income inequality and study its effect on social behaviour and political attitudes. By uncovering these consequences of ineq ....Consequences of inequality on social behaviour and political attitudes. This project aims to reveal how economic inequality shapes dynamics between groups within societies. Income inequality has effects beyond health but its effects on social behaviour and political attitudes are poorly understood. This project will move beyond a focus on the health and well-being costs of income inequality and study its effect on social behaviour and political attitudes. By uncovering these consequences of inequality, the findings are expected to broaden the understanding of growing economic inequality, showing its consequences for the social health of a society and its citizens.Read moreRead less
The evaluation of a parenting intervention to prevent adverse developmental outcomes for children following family breakdown. This project will be a major step forward in providing an evidence-base for interventions with divorced parents in Australia. Family Transitions Triple P - Positive Parenting Program is a theoretically based intervention that addresses the Australian Government's emphasised need of providing families with strategies to resolve relationship disputes and reduce the emotion ....The evaluation of a parenting intervention to prevent adverse developmental outcomes for children following family breakdown. This project will be a major step forward in providing an evidence-base for interventions with divorced parents in Australia. Family Transitions Triple P - Positive Parenting Program is a theoretically based intervention that addresses the Australian Government's emphasised need of providing families with strategies to resolve relationship disputes and reduce the emotional costs to families experiencing divorce. Once evaluated for effectiveness, the collaboration of this project with Relationships Australia will enable the program to be readily accessible to the divorced parents in Australia.Read moreRead less
Antisocial behaviour in young Australian adults: Social and economic influences. Antisocial behaviour is prevalent in Australia and imposes large social and economic costs. Currently, much of the crime prevention research has been conducted overseas. The findings of this study will provide important insights into the development of antisocial behaviour from childhood and adolescence through into young adulthood in the Australian context. By better understanding how factors such as unemployment, ....Antisocial behaviour in young Australian adults: Social and economic influences. Antisocial behaviour is prevalent in Australia and imposes large social and economic costs. Currently, much of the crime prevention research has been conducted overseas. The findings of this study will provide important insights into the development of antisocial behaviour from childhood and adolescence through into young adulthood in the Australian context. By better understanding how factors such as unemployment, alcohol-related entertainment, and sporting participation influence antisocial behaviour in young adulthood, prevention and early intervention programs can be developed to target specific subgroups. In this way spending on criminal justice systems can be reduced and a safer, more harmonious community can be fostered.Read moreRead less
Self-Leadership towards Innovation & Well-Being. Innovation and well-being in the workplace are of paramount importance in maintaining Australia's social and economic environment. Self-leadership training provides employees with strategies to build confidence and resilience, identify opportunities in the environment, deriving greater meaning and enjoyment from work. Self-leadership training has already been shown to improve performance; this project extends self-leadership research by testing th ....Self-Leadership towards Innovation & Well-Being. Innovation and well-being in the workplace are of paramount importance in maintaining Australia's social and economic environment. Self-leadership training provides employees with strategies to build confidence and resilience, identify opportunities in the environment, deriving greater meaning and enjoyment from work. Self-leadership training has already been shown to improve performance; this project extends self-leadership research by testing the effects of self-leadership training on employee innovation and well-being. It also elucidates the psychological processes underlying improvements in innovation and well-being. The project addresses ARC Research Priorities 2 and 3 and contributes to Australia's social and economic advancement.Read moreRead less
Site-Level Community Engagement Processes in the Australian Minerals Industry: A Comparative Analysis. A key principle of corporate social responsibility is that companies should endeavour to engage with, and be responsive to, the concerns of affected local communities. With the support of four industry partners, this study will compare how community engagement has been practised at seven Australian minerals operations. The study will assess the effectiveness and appropriateness of existing enga ....Site-Level Community Engagement Processes in the Australian Minerals Industry: A Comparative Analysis. A key principle of corporate social responsibility is that companies should endeavour to engage with, and be responsive to, the concerns of affected local communities. With the support of four industry partners, this study will compare how community engagement has been practised at seven Australian minerals operations. The study will assess the effectiveness and appropriateness of existing engagement processes, account for significant differences between sites, and identify opportunities for improving how companies engage with communities. Social Identity Theory will be utilised to structure the research and inform the development of advice to industry on effective engagement strategies.Read moreRead less
Managing the risks posed by Artificial General Intelligence. It is widely acknowledged that a failure to implement appropriate controls for the next generation of Artificial Intelligence, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), could have catastrophic consequences, including in the worst case - the extinction of the human race. This research aims to forecast the risks associated with AGI systems and identify the controls required to ensure that risks and existential threats are minimised. The exp ....Managing the risks posed by Artificial General Intelligence. It is widely acknowledged that a failure to implement appropriate controls for the next generation of Artificial Intelligence, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), could have catastrophic consequences, including in the worst case - the extinction of the human race. This research aims to forecast the risks associated with AGI systems and identify the controls required to ensure that risks and existential threats are minimised. The expected outputs will provide designers, organisations, regulators and governments with a framework to support the design, implementation, and management of safe and efficient AGI systems. This will ensure that the potential far-reaching benefits of AGI are realised without undue threat to society.Read moreRead less
The boomerang effect of rumour denials: An attributional analysis. Rumours can have many harmful consequences. They may lead to damaged reputations, reduced morale, panic, stress and loss of interpersonal trust. Furthermore, they are very hard to manage. A simple denial of a rumour can often result in increased belief in the rumour. This boomerang effect makes it very difficult to combat harmful rumours. The proposed research applies causal attribution theory to explain the causes behind the boo ....The boomerang effect of rumour denials: An attributional analysis. Rumours can have many harmful consequences. They may lead to damaged reputations, reduced morale, panic, stress and loss of interpersonal trust. Furthermore, they are very hard to manage. A simple denial of a rumour can often result in increased belief in the rumour. This boomerang effect makes it very difficult to combat harmful rumours. The proposed research applies causal attribution theory to explain the causes behind the boomerang effect. It uses a combination of laboratory and field experiments and aims to develop and test strategies to overcome this effect.Read moreRead less