Social Futures and Life Pathways of Young People in Queensland: Waves 2 and 3 of Longitudinal Study. Much has been written about the unprecedented change in society and how it impacts on the identities of young people. It has been argued that young people's life trajectories are much more diverse, flexible and unpredictable than they were in the past. In 2006 the investigators surveyed over 6000 young Queenslanders aged 13 about what they think of their future and how they cope with change. This ....Social Futures and Life Pathways of Young People in Queensland: Waves 2 and 3 of Longitudinal Study. Much has been written about the unprecedented change in society and how it impacts on the identities of young people. It has been argued that young people's life trajectories are much more diverse, flexible and unpredictable than they were in the past. In 2006 the investigators surveyed over 6000 young Queenslanders aged 13 about what they think of their future and how they cope with change. This project follows-up participants when they are 15 and 17 to provide important information for researchers, policymakers and others about how young people think about their futures, engage with society, and move through school, work and family in a world of rapid change and uncertainty.Read moreRead less
Water Scarcity and rural social hardship - can water markets alleviate the problem? Present review of water resources within catchments of the Murray-Darling Basin will result in reduced access to water for consumptive use with consequential significant socio-economic and community impacts. Water markets are seen as major instruments to assist farmers in managing this process and thereby minimize the impact within rural communities. However, research has identified several barriers to trade an ....Water Scarcity and rural social hardship - can water markets alleviate the problem? Present review of water resources within catchments of the Murray-Darling Basin will result in reduced access to water for consumptive use with consequential significant socio-economic and community impacts. Water markets are seen as major instruments to assist farmers in managing this process and thereby minimize the impact within rural communities. However, research has identified several barriers to trade and several future research needs. This project addresses five of these issues by providing insight into three community barriers to trade as well as a framework for ongoing monitoring, analyses and reporting of market outcomes and impacts to assist adaptive policy development.Read moreRead less
The impact of emotional intelligence and styles of conflict resolution on performance in high and low stress situations. Research from 1980 reveals that organizations in Australia do not deal well with conflict (Hollis & Cunnington, 1980). Recent research has revealed similiar shortcomings within Australian organisations (Lewis et al., 1997). Improving the effectiveness of individuals in resolving conflict is vital for organisational effectiveness in both the private and public sectors. In par ....The impact of emotional intelligence and styles of conflict resolution on performance in high and low stress situations. Research from 1980 reveals that organizations in Australia do not deal well with conflict (Hollis & Cunnington, 1980). Recent research has revealed similiar shortcomings within Australian organisations (Lewis et al., 1997). Improving the effectiveness of individuals in resolving conflict is vital for organisational effectiveness in both the private and public sectors. In particular, functional conflict can contribute to organisational innovation, creativity and productivity. The understanding gained about the links between emotions and conflict resolution in this research will assist in identifying and improving the skills that contribute to better conflict resolution and consequentially better performance within organisations.Read moreRead less
The production of pay (in)equity for women: a study of emerging occupations. The aims of this project are to extend understanding of current impediments to pay equity for women, and to elaborate the ways in which pay inequality is re-created in new contexts. The focus is on emerging occupations likely to provide increasing employment opportunities in the near future. This is highly significant research at a time of structural change and when new procedures for addressing pay equity are being dev ....The production of pay (in)equity for women: a study of emerging occupations. The aims of this project are to extend understanding of current impediments to pay equity for women, and to elaborate the ways in which pay inequality is re-created in new contexts. The focus is on emerging occupations likely to provide increasing employment opportunities in the near future. This is highly significant research at a time of structural change and when new procedures for addressing pay equity are being developed in several States following pay equity inquiries. Expected outcomes include enhanced comprehension of the reproduction of pay inequality and evidence to assist the advancement of pay equity through identified mechanisms and strategies.Read moreRead less
Examining the impact of employment on social relationships in urban communities. Intra-community relationships are associated with positive health outcomes for communities and residents by increasing social support, promoting engagement and encouraging community belonging. Community health outcomes are also linked to community socio-economic disadvantage suggesting that strengthened community relationships can potentially reduce socio-economic disparities in health. However, first an understan ....Examining the impact of employment on social relationships in urban communities. Intra-community relationships are associated with positive health outcomes for communities and residents by increasing social support, promoting engagement and encouraging community belonging. Community health outcomes are also linked to community socio-economic disadvantage suggesting that strengthened community relationships can potentially reduce socio-economic disparities in health. However, first an understanding of the complex effects of employment on forming and sustaining community relationships is needed. This research will provide policy makers with evidence to better balance and address objectives of increasing employment, strengthening community and improving health by taking into account their interdependencies.Read moreRead less
Industrial relations, gender equity and work/family balance: assessing the impact of changing law and practice in Queensland. The project has potential to contribute to improvements in the economic and social well-being of Australian families and communities by identifying effective strategies to enhance gender equity in employment and work/family balance. It seeks to extend understanding of how these outcomes vary across regions and sectors of the Queensland economy in the context of a changing ....Industrial relations, gender equity and work/family balance: assessing the impact of changing law and practice in Queensland. The project has potential to contribute to improvements in the economic and social well-being of Australian families and communities by identifying effective strategies to enhance gender equity in employment and work/family balance. It seeks to extend understanding of how these outcomes vary across regions and sectors of the Queensland economy in the context of a changing industrial relations framework, and to provide an evidence-base to inform the best ways to secure high quality employment and labour force attachment over the life course.Read moreRead less
Social Futures, Orientations and Identities of Young People in Queensland. Much has been written about the unprecedented change in society and how it impacts on the identities of young people. It has been argued that life pathways of young people are much more diverse, flexible and unpredictable than they were in the past and that they are developing new strategies of coping with these new conditions. This research will follow a large cohort of young Australians through adolescence to empiricall ....Social Futures, Orientations and Identities of Young People in Queensland. Much has been written about the unprecedented change in society and how it impacts on the identities of young people. It has been argued that life pathways of young people are much more diverse, flexible and unpredictable than they were in the past and that they are developing new strategies of coping with these new conditions. This research will follow a large cohort of young Australians through adolescence to empirically investigate how young people think of their future and how they master their life trajectories in a world of rapid change and uncertainty. Read moreRead less
Improving Team Performance: The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Team Training. Increasingly organisations are searching for ways of improving team performance. Recent research shows that emotions play a central role in increasing organisational commitment and performance. In particular, the newly developed notion of emotional intelligence is promoted as a method of enhancing performance however these claims often lack empirical support. In this project, the role of emotions in team-based wor ....Improving Team Performance: The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Team Training. Increasingly organisations are searching for ways of improving team performance. Recent research shows that emotions play a central role in increasing organisational commitment and performance. In particular, the newly developed notion of emotional intelligence is promoted as a method of enhancing performance however these claims often lack empirical support. In this project, the role of emotions in team-based work settings will be examined, together with the impact of emotions on performance. The study will assess interventions designed to assist employees in public and private organisations to gain the necessary emotion-based skills to improve their performance in teams.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
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