Feeling and thinking: affect, implicit social cognition and behaviour. Although affect plays a major role in human affairs, the psychological mechanisms linking affect to thinking and behaviour remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate the influence of affective states on implicit cognitive processes and subsequent social behaviours. The project aims to develop and to test an innovative information processing theory linking affect to implicit cognition, and apply new experime ....Feeling and thinking: affect, implicit social cognition and behaviour. Although affect plays a major role in human affairs, the psychological mechanisms linking affect to thinking and behaviour remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate the influence of affective states on implicit cognitive processes and subsequent social behaviours. The project aims to develop and to test an innovative information processing theory linking affect to implicit cognition, and apply new experimental methods to measure the cognitive and behavioural consequences of affect. Studies will also explore the applied consequences of affect infusion for real-life social behaviours with expected implications for health, clinical, organisational, and educational outcomes.Read moreRead less
The emotional psychology of blood donors: understanding and using the affective key to donor return. Every week in Australia 27,000 blood donations are required to meet medical needs. Though donors are continually recruited, each year around 40per cent of Australian donors fail to re-donate. Why this occurs and how to prevent this is not well understood. Using an approach grounded in psychology and affective science, this project comprises a program of studies that aims to advance understanding ....The emotional psychology of blood donors: understanding and using the affective key to donor return. Every week in Australia 27,000 blood donations are required to meet medical needs. Though donors are continually recruited, each year around 40per cent of Australian donors fail to re-donate. Why this occurs and how to prevent this is not well understood. Using an approach grounded in psychology and affective science, this project comprises a program of studies that aims to advance understanding of the affective factors that contribute to blood donor return and translate that understanding into interventions to increase donor return. The project aims to advance the psychological conceptualisation of blood donation by integrating insight from affective science, while also enabling the Blood Service to meet the nation's demand for blood products.Read moreRead less
How pain shapes our social world. Pain is an important source of human experience. Traditionally it has been defined by its social and psychological costs and treated as a problem that needs to be ‘fixed’. This project represents the first systematic study of the ways in which pain may motivate social and behavioural responses that serve to enhance affiliation, communication, solidarity, and group formation. In this way, pain may serve to connect people with their social worlds - it may act as s ....How pain shapes our social world. Pain is an important source of human experience. Traditionally it has been defined by its social and psychological costs and treated as a problem that needs to be ‘fixed’. This project represents the first systematic study of the ways in which pain may motivate social and behavioural responses that serve to enhance affiliation, communication, solidarity, and group formation. In this way, pain may serve to connect people with their social worlds - it may act as social glue - bringing people together and strengthening social connection. The findings will help to to provide a broader perspective on physical pain and will lead to insights that are important when treating pain.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL180100094
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,749,550.00
Summary
Responding to the challenge of identity change. This project aims to advance our understanding of factors that promote successful adjustment to collective-level change, which is imperative for well-being and the fabric of society. The psychological and financial cost of not understanding these dynamics is significant, and is at the forefront of concerns in organisational, educational, community and national contexts. This project will help elucidate the complexities of collective-level change an ....Responding to the challenge of identity change. This project aims to advance our understanding of factors that promote successful adjustment to collective-level change, which is imperative for well-being and the fabric of society. The psychological and financial cost of not understanding these dynamics is significant, and is at the forefront of concerns in organisational, educational, community and national contexts. This project will help elucidate the complexities of collective-level change and adjustment to such change, providing benefits to communities, organisations and policy makers. The project builds on The Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC), a theoretical approach which helps to understand how people might effectively cope with change; it forms the basis of an ambitious and integrated theoretical program of research that will examine SIMIC predictions in novel contexts.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100459
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$369,000.00
Summary
The influence of features of the online environment on risk taking. This project aims to increase our understanding of what aspects of websites encourage people to engage in risky behaviours. Risk taking in online environments can have significant negative consequences, such as being a victim or perpetrator of cybercrime. This project aims to develop and test a conceptual model to understand the psychological processes underlying risk taking online, focusing on the impact of social cues and spec ....The influence of features of the online environment on risk taking. This project aims to increase our understanding of what aspects of websites encourage people to engage in risky behaviours. Risk taking in online environments can have significant negative consequences, such as being a victim or perpetrator of cybercrime. This project aims to develop and test a conceptual model to understand the psychological processes underlying risk taking online, focusing on the impact of social cues and specific online environmental cues. Anticipated project outcomes will benefit policy-makers by identifying how sites can be made safer and may also show how to educate people to make safe decisions online and to avoid sites that may encourage them to take risks or engage in anti-social behaviours.Read moreRead less
Advancing the science of willpower: investigating the mechanisms and processes of self-control. Willpower or 'good' self control is important for success in our academic, occupational, and social lives. This project will use cutting-edge scientific methods to investigate how glucose, the primary fuel for body function, promotes 'good' self-control and stimulates regions in the brain important for self-control.
Alcohol, Angry Rumination, And Aggression: The Role Of Acute Impairment Of Executive Functioning
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$341,780.00
Summary
In Australia, alcohol-induced aggression imposes substantial psychological, public health, social, and economic burdens on victims, perpetrators, and society. When people drink and brood over interpersonal transgresssions, they are at increased risk of violence, even toward the innocent. The goal of the proposed research is to identify neuropsychological mechanisms that account for this increased aggression.
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL110100199
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,529,601.00
Summary
Responding to the challenges of identity change: an advanced social identity approach to issues of leadership, health and well-being. This project develops an integrated framework for understanding how changes to identity that are associated with the changing fabric of the modern world impact on Australians' health and well-being. The project will develop and test strategies for tackling these challenges and minimising their negative consequences.
Evaluating the Quality of Scientific Research in Psychology. Buttressing public trust in science has never been more important, yet many sciences are experiencing a crisis of confidence. The current system of relying on journal prestige to calibrate our confidence in individual research findings has created corrupt incentives for scientists, and risks undermining public trust in science. Thousands of scientists and institutions around the world have indicated that research evaluation needs an ov ....Evaluating the Quality of Scientific Research in Psychology. Buttressing public trust in science has never been more important, yet many sciences are experiencing a crisis of confidence. The current system of relying on journal prestige to calibrate our confidence in individual research findings has created corrupt incentives for scientists, and risks undermining public trust in science. Thousands of scientists and institutions around the world have indicated that research evaluation needs an overhaul by signing the Declaration on Research Assessment. One solution is to create a public, transparent, and valid process for producing and sharing expert evaluations of individual papers. This project aims to launch this reform in psychology, and partner with PREreview to help it spread to other fields.Read moreRead less
Creating a climate for change: from cognition to consensus. Climate change is a significant contemporary issue, and communicating the complexities of the terminology and the data is a major modern challenge. This project will apply principles of cognitive and social psychology to determine the most effective methods for promoting an understanding of the scientific dimensions of the issue. The research is significant because it provides a coherent theoretical framework for identifying the psychol ....Creating a climate for change: from cognition to consensus. Climate change is a significant contemporary issue, and communicating the complexities of the terminology and the data is a major modern challenge. This project will apply principles of cognitive and social psychology to determine the most effective methods for promoting an understanding of the scientific dimensions of the issue. The research is significant because it provides a coherent theoretical framework for identifying the psychological mechanisms underlying cognition and commitment at both an individual and collective level. The outcome will be a body of evidence that will inform strategies and policies for communication of complex scientific questions.Read moreRead less