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
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
Cultural Dynamics of Narratives: Micro and Macro Implications of Narrative Transmission. Stories circulated in everyday conversations may have global implications by exerting a subtle cultural influence on social actions. Stories about martyrdom and wartime heroics, for instance, describe what goals a protagonist pursues in what way in what context. We propose that in communicating such stories people affirm and re-affirm for each other what they should do under what circumstances. The exchange ....Cultural Dynamics of Narratives: Micro and Macro Implications of Narrative Transmission. Stories circulated in everyday conversations may have global implications by exerting a subtle cultural influence on social actions. Stories about martyrdom and wartime heroics, for instance, describe what goals a protagonist pursues in what way in what context. We propose that in communicating such stories people affirm and re-affirm for each other what they should do under what circumstances. The exchange of these stories can result in the formation and transformation of a large-scale cultural grouping, which may have significant socio-political implications such as extremist terrorism and intercultural clashes. We test these propositions in experiments and computer simulations.Read moreRead less
The Formation and Maintenance of Stereotypes through Communication. Stereotypes are culturally shared beliefs about social groups. Although many stereotypes may be formed on the basis of hearsay, and often maintained through our everyday conversations, little is known about how they are formed, maintained, and transformed through interpersonal communications. This project examines this question with a view to developing a social psychological theory of how culturally shared beliefs may be formed ....The Formation and Maintenance of Stereotypes through Communication. Stereotypes are culturally shared beliefs about social groups. Although many stereotypes may be formed on the basis of hearsay, and often maintained through our everyday conversations, little is known about how they are formed, maintained, and transformed through interpersonal communications. This project examines this question with a view to developing a social psychological theory of how culturally shared beliefs may be formed, maintained, and transformed, especially when they can have undesirable consequences such as prejudice and discrimination.Read moreRead less
Who may judge a book by its cover? This project aims to build a model of how and why people vary in their impressions of others and in the accuracy of these impressions. People readily form impressions of others from their faces and these impressions influence crucial decisions: election results, court case outcomes and partner choices. To build this model, the project will apply twin data and construct a psychometric test to measure variation in facial impressions. The research is expected to l ....Who may judge a book by its cover? This project aims to build a model of how and why people vary in their impressions of others and in the accuracy of these impressions. People readily form impressions of others from their faces and these impressions influence crucial decisions: election results, court case outcomes and partner choices. To build this model, the project will apply twin data and construct a psychometric test to measure variation in facial impressions. The research is expected to lead to insights into this aspect of social perception, and to identify the sources of atypical or inaccurate facial judgements. This has applications in health contexts (to identify social impairment) and in security contexts (for personnel selection).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
Drivers' Behavioural Responses to Traffic Signs. Traffic signs are ubiquitous in the road environment; research to improve their effectiveness can be very cost-effective in terms of safety improvements. Conducting traffic sign research on real roads has many difficulties, such as ethical considerations and lack of control. To overcome this, the research will be conducted in a driving simulator, in which the interaction between drivers and their equipment/environment will be studied. The aim of ....Drivers' Behavioural Responses to Traffic Signs. Traffic signs are ubiquitous in the road environment; research to improve their effectiveness can be very cost-effective in terms of safety improvements. Conducting traffic sign research on real roads has many difficulties, such as ethical considerations and lack of control. To overcome this, the research will be conducted in a driving simulator, in which the interaction between drivers and their equipment/environment will be studied. The aim of this project is to further understand drivers? behavioural responses to traffic signs, the expected outcome being to make the exchange of information between the driver and traffic sign as smooth and efficient as possible.Read moreRead less
The Perception and Production of Timing in Speaking and Other Actions. The planned research seeks to develop a theoretical account of the mechanism that controls the initiation of spoken utterances and their unfolding in time, both when spoken in isolation and when spoken in rhythmic contexts. It uncovers the relationship between the perception of speech and its production, and also aims to discover whether the mechanism that controls speech timing is a general property of action or is unique t ....The Perception and Production of Timing in Speaking and Other Actions. The planned research seeks to develop a theoretical account of the mechanism that controls the initiation of spoken utterances and their unfolding in time, both when spoken in isolation and when spoken in rhythmic contexts. It uncovers the relationship between the perception of speech and its production, and also aims to discover whether the mechanism that controls speech timing is a general property of action or is unique to speech. This work has implications for our understanding of the on-line mechanisms that control speaking and other kinds of action, and thus our understanding of disorders of these human capabilities.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100177
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$150,000.00
Summary
A flexible high throughput analytical system for psychopharmacology and drug discovery. A sensitive new liquid chromatography mass spectrometer will enable a team of leading researchers to detect drugs of abuse and therapeutic drugs in the brain and body as well as levels of hormones, peptides and neurotransmitters. This will enhance a large number of projects examining new treatments for addictive disorders and mental illness.
Rekindle sexuality after cancer: development and testing of a novel web-based psychoeducational resource for both survivors and their partners. In collaboration with the Cancer Council New South Wales, this project will develop the first web-based psycho-educational resource, Rekindle, that addresses sexual concerns of both survivors and their partners, across all cancer-types, tailored to the unique concerns of each user.