The role of social identity complexity in the success of interethnic contact. Australians collectively represent more than 250 ethno-cultural, 400 linguistic, and 100 religious groups. Although contact with diverse individuals is becoming increasingly common in many facets of life (e.g., work, school, social gatherings), such encounters are often awkward and stressful, even for well-intentioned people. Negative interactions between diverse individuals can fuel tension and hostility between diver ....The role of social identity complexity in the success of interethnic contact. Australians collectively represent more than 250 ethno-cultural, 400 linguistic, and 100 religious groups. Although contact with diverse individuals is becoming increasingly common in many facets of life (e.g., work, school, social gatherings), such encounters are often awkward and stressful, even for well-intentioned people. Negative interactions between diverse individuals can fuel tension and hostility between diverse groups. The project will determine whether the processes and outcomes of interethnic interactions are influenced by the ways in which individuals understand their social groups. Insights into the factors that contribute to positive interethnic interactions will improve our ability to promote harmony in diverse societies.Read moreRead less
Practical methods to evaluate school breakfast programs. This innovative project will provide a doctoral student with the opportunity to develop in-depth academic research within the practical constraints of field-based program evaluation. The candidate will develop a practical methodology to evaluate community-based programs, specifically school breakfast programs in New South Wales. The outcome of the project will be an evaluation protocol, set of tools and reporting proforma that can be appli ....Practical methods to evaluate school breakfast programs. This innovative project will provide a doctoral student with the opportunity to develop in-depth academic research within the practical constraints of field-based program evaluation. The candidate will develop a practical methodology to evaluate community-based programs, specifically school breakfast programs in New South Wales. The outcome of the project will be an evaluation protocol, set of tools and reporting proforma that can be applied by volunteers and teachers to evaluate school breakfast programs. The research process undertaken by the candidate also will be applicable to the development of evaluation methodologies of a range of community-based programs.Read moreRead less
Paving the way for effective public health interventions for bulimic eating disorders: Understanding stigma and mental health literacy. This research contributes to promoting and maintaining good health. The burden of bulimic eating disorders in the community is high, frequently ignored and increasing. Our research will pave the way for improved understanding of eating disorders and a reduction of stigma in relation to these problems. In so doing, it will lead to reduced shame and suffering for ....Paving the way for effective public health interventions for bulimic eating disorders: Understanding stigma and mental health literacy. This research contributes to promoting and maintaining good health. The burden of bulimic eating disorders in the community is high, frequently ignored and increasing. Our research will pave the way for improved understanding of eating disorders and a reduction of stigma in relation to these problems. In so doing, it will lead to reduced shame and suffering for people with eating disorders and enhance appropriate treatment seeking and the quality of advice received from family, friends and health professionals. A public health intervention based on our findings will contribute to a more tolerant and understanding community.Read moreRead less
Leadership, social identity and the dynamics of influence in intergroup relations: A new understanding of social continuity and social change. Understanding how social change occurs (or continuity prevails) and the role of leadership in this process is paramount to any social system (e.g. nation, state, organization, team). This project provides a new social psychological understanding of leadership and social change dynamics, including when more radical leaders and social relations emerge, as w ....Leadership, social identity and the dynamics of influence in intergroup relations: A new understanding of social continuity and social change. Understanding how social change occurs (or continuity prevails) and the role of leadership in this process is paramount to any social system (e.g. nation, state, organization, team). This project provides a new social psychological understanding of leadership and social change dynamics, including when more radical leaders and social relations emerge, as well as how different groups become more united around a common cause. Given ethnic, religious, social and political diversity of Australian society, these questions are fundamental to strengthening Australia's social fabric. This research also has cross-disciplinary applications, builds international collaborations, and supports emerging Australian research talent.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354736
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$30,000.00
Summary
Families, Law and Social Policy Research Network. The Federal Government's Family Law Pathways Advisory Group recommended that a national research agenda be developed for family law and social policy that focuses on the separation and divorce transition. For many families Commonwealth private family law and the public law of child protection and domestic violence, provides the setting in which this transition takes place. The proposed multidisciplinary network brings together researchers, policy ....Families, Law and Social Policy Research Network. The Federal Government's Family Law Pathways Advisory Group recommended that a national research agenda be developed for family law and social policy that focuses on the separation and divorce transition. For many families Commonwealth private family law and the public law of child protection and domestic violence, provides the setting in which this transition takes place. The proposed multidisciplinary network brings together researchers, policy makers and service providers in this area. Benefits include research better targeted to the needs of end-users, a stronger evidence base for complex practice, decreased fragmentation of research effort, and a base for research training.Read moreRead less
Affective influences social thinking and behaviour: A social neuroscience approach. Affective states have a major influence on how people think and behave in everyday life. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms producing these effects remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate how external situations and internal cognitive and neurological mechanisms interact to facilitate or inhibit affective influences on judgments and behaviour. The project will also develop and ....Affective influences social thinking and behaviour: A social neuroscience approach. Affective states have a major influence on how people think and behave in everyday life. However, the psychological and neural mechanisms producing these effects remain incompletely understood. This project will investigate how external situations and internal cognitive and neurological mechanisms interact to facilitate or inhibit affective influences on judgments and behaviour. The project will also develop and test an innovative information processing theory of affective influences, and develop new empirical methods for measuring the cognitive and behavioural consequences of affect. Studies will also investigate the influence of affect on clinical, organisational, educational and health outcomes, and on various real-life behaviours.
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Feeling, thinking and doing: Affective influences on social cognition and behaviour. Affect has a major influence on how people think and behave in social situations, yet the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. The proposed experiments will investigate the circumstances that facilitate or inhibit affect infusion into social thinking, judgments and behaviours and explore the real-life consequences of these effects. A comprehensive theoretical mod ....Feeling, thinking and doing: Affective influences on social cognition and behaviour. Affect has a major influence on how people think and behave in social situations, yet the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects remain incompletely understood. The proposed experiments will investigate the circumstances that facilitate or inhibit affect infusion into social thinking, judgments and behaviours and explore the real-life consequences of these effects. A comprehensive theoretical model, the recently revised Affect Infusion Model will be tested as an integrative explanation for affect infusion phenomena.Read moreRead less
The Disproportionate Impact of Negative Contact on Category Salience and Prejudice: Explaining Why Intergroup Interactions Can Be Harmful. The social psychological literature suggests that face-to-face interactions between people of rival groups will reduce mutual prejudice and discrimination. The present research tests the novel prediction that negative face-to-face interactions have a greater probability of worsening broad intergroup relations than positive face-to-face interactions have of im ....The Disproportionate Impact of Negative Contact on Category Salience and Prejudice: Explaining Why Intergroup Interactions Can Be Harmful. The social psychological literature suggests that face-to-face interactions between people of rival groups will reduce mutual prejudice and discrimination. The present research tests the novel prediction that negative face-to-face interactions have a greater probability of worsening broad intergroup relations than positive face-to-face interactions have of improving them. The research will benefit Australia by (a) explaining why intergroup conflict continues to be a key social issue in multicultural Australia despite increased intergroup interactions and by (b) informing policy makers about the social conditions that result in more conflicting intergroup relations as well as the social conditions that result in more harmonious relations.Read moreRead less
Cooperative dual identity: A new approach to promote ethnic harmony between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians. This project makes a significant contribution to strengthening Australia's social fabric by promoting positive cooperation between Muslim and non-Muslim students. Cooperative contact and dual identity strategies will be innovatively integrated into school curricula using web technology to encourage positive intergroup interactions that are currently not commonplace. Researchers, policy- ....Cooperative dual identity: A new approach to promote ethnic harmony between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians. This project makes a significant contribution to strengthening Australia's social fabric by promoting positive cooperation between Muslim and non-Muslim students. Cooperative contact and dual identity strategies will be innovatively integrated into school curricula using web technology to encourage positive intergroup interactions that are currently not commonplace. Researchers, policy-makers, and teachers will have available a significantly effective long-term ethnic harmony strategy, which will be incorporated routinely into their research and practice. We expect this cutting edge research program to yield timely and influential findings, and advance Australia's position as a leader in the field of social and developmental psychology.Read moreRead less
Ostracism and Aggression. Ostracism has been implicated in school shootings (e.g., Columbine) and other violent or anti-social episodes (e.g., Port Arthur shootings). Some argue that ostracism drives individuals toward joining violent extremist groups. Research, however, is mixed: sometimes targets of ostracism correct their behaviors to be more socially acceptable; whereas other times they react with aggression. This research program will investigate the conditions under which ostracism either ....Ostracism and Aggression. Ostracism has been implicated in school shootings (e.g., Columbine) and other violent or anti-social episodes (e.g., Port Arthur shootings). Some argue that ostracism drives individuals toward joining violent extremist groups. Research, however, is mixed: sometimes targets of ostracism correct their behaviors to be more socially acceptable; whereas other times they react with aggression. This research program will investigate the conditions under which ostracism either leads to paths of either pro-social or aggressive reactions. A new virtual reality paradigm will be developed to provide stronger manipulations of ostracism and to assist in discovering the crucial conditions responsible for these paths.Read moreRead less