Moral frontiers: When the needs of humans and nonhumans collide. Decision making about resources is not simply based on human needs alone. Issues relating to animal rights, biodiversity, and environmental protection weigh heavily in these debates. These issues are receiving increased attention at a time when the human (over)population of the planet is already placing pressure on scare resources, creating conflict between the needs of humans and non-humans. It is along our moral frontiers where t ....Moral frontiers: When the needs of humans and nonhumans collide. Decision making about resources is not simply based on human needs alone. Issues relating to animal rights, biodiversity, and environmental protection weigh heavily in these debates. These issues are receiving increased attention at a time when the human (over)population of the planet is already placing pressure on scare resources, creating conflict between the needs of humans and non-humans. It is along our moral frontiers where these conflicts will erupt and the rights and needs of humans and non-humans alike are given merit or discarded. This project will examine the psychological processes involved in extending moral concern to non-humans and the benefits and costs of this extended morality for the satisfaction of human needs.Read moreRead less
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.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101262
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$359,753.00
Summary
Decision making in older people approaching the end of life. End of life care provides an ideal framework in which to explore the principle of individual autonomy and consumer decision making. Older people at a high risk of dying in 6 months will be recruited from acute care wards, and asked about preferences for involvement in end of life decision making in a standardised interview survey. Surrogate decision makers and physicians will be asked to answer the same questions from the patient's per ....Decision making in older people approaching the end of life. End of life care provides an ideal framework in which to explore the principle of individual autonomy and consumer decision making. Older people at a high risk of dying in 6 months will be recruited from acute care wards, and asked about preferences for involvement in end of life decision making in a standardised interview survey. Surrogate decision makers and physicians will be asked to answer the same questions from the patient's perspective (namely what they think the patient wants). Findings will suggest ways end of life care can be better tailored so that patients can participate in decisions and receive care that is consistent with their wishes.Read moreRead less
Overconfidence as an interpersonal strategy in negotiation and competition. The objective of the project is to develop and test a model of overconfidence that is based on the potential for overconfidence to give people a competitive advantage. Overconfidence can benefit people by causing others to value their skills more highly than they should. Nonetheless, it can be costly to businesses and governments who put their trust in overconfident managers and leaders because such individuals are often ....Overconfidence as an interpersonal strategy in negotiation and competition. The objective of the project is to develop and test a model of overconfidence that is based on the potential for overconfidence to give people a competitive advantage. Overconfidence can benefit people by causing others to value their skills more highly than they should. Nonetheless, it can be costly to businesses and governments who put their trust in overconfident managers and leaders because such individuals are often unprepared or ill-suited for their role. The project model, grounded in recent theorising in psychology, evolutionary biology and economics, would allow us to predict who will display overconfidence in a variety of situations, and would also clarify why people are overconfident and what benefits and costs accrue from overconfidence. Given the ubiquity and societal costs of overconfidence, a predictive model such as this would be useful for scientists and policy-makers alike.Read moreRead less
Resolving human-flying fox conflict in the face of environmental change. Resolving human-flying fox conflict in the face of environmental change. This project aims to identify socially-acceptable priority areas to be managed for the long-term viability of flying-foxes under a changing climate, and develop strategies to mitigate human-flying fox conflict, using ecological and social analysis in a decision-theoretic framework. Flying-foxes are nationally protected mammals pivotal to Australia’s fo ....Resolving human-flying fox conflict in the face of environmental change. Resolving human-flying fox conflict in the face of environmental change. This project aims to identify socially-acceptable priority areas to be managed for the long-term viability of flying-foxes under a changing climate, and develop strategies to mitigate human-flying fox conflict, using ecological and social analysis in a decision-theoretic framework. Flying-foxes are nationally protected mammals pivotal to Australia’s forest ecosystems, but are threatened by habitat loss, extreme weather and legal culls at orchards. Their exceptional mobility puts them in frequent conflict with human settlements, leading to forced dispersals from roosts. Anticipated outcomes are the conservation of Australia’s flying-foxes and international understanding of how to resolve human conflict with highly mobile species that are threatened but locally abundant and controversial.Read moreRead less
Refugees employment aspirations and inter-generational communication about future occupational pathways. This project is the first to investigate the long-term employment aspirations of recently arrived refugees and how they communicate them to their children. Findings will inform policy and service delivery aimed at helping these people to achieve the potential they bring to Australia.
Sending and responding to messages about climate change: the role of emotion and morality. Climate change represents a moral challenge to humanity, and one that elicits high levels of emotion. This project examines how emotions and morality influence how people send and receive messages about climate change, and does so with an eye to developing concrete and do-able strategies for positive change.
Building successful diverse communities: what works and why? This project is focused on strengthening locally-based interventions to maximise community harmony in the context of demographic diversity (ethnic, cultural, religious). It also will strengthen the relationship between world-leading researchers and senior policy experts and provides valuable research training for three junior scholars.
The intergenerational origins of social and emotional wellbeing. This project aims to map inter-generational pathways that connect parental life histories, from infancy to parenthood, to offspring development decades later. The project brings together rare data from three long running studies of social development in Australia and New Zealand: The Australian Temperament Project (est. 1983), The Victorian Inter-generational Health Cohort (est. 1992), and The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health & Dev ....The intergenerational origins of social and emotional wellbeing. This project aims to map inter-generational pathways that connect parental life histories, from infancy to parenthood, to offspring development decades later. The project brings together rare data from three long running studies of social development in Australia and New Zealand: The Australian Temperament Project (est. 1983), The Victorian Inter-generational Health Cohort (est. 1992), and The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health & Development Study (est. 1972). Expected outcomes include enhanced understanding of the factors that strengthen or undermine well-being in families from one generation to the next.Read moreRead less
Humans as animals and objects: the psychology of dehumanisation. This project will clarify how some individuals and groups as perceived as less than human. It will examine how some groups are subtly seen as animal-like and how some media images objectify individuals. It will yield a deeper understanding of how people may be degraded, dismissed, vilified and dehumanised.