Open Cuts to Land and Culture: Rural Community Engagement with Large-Scale Industrial Development. The effects of coal mining and combustion on local communities have not been adequately researched even though export-oriented coal production is a key element of Australia's economy in the 21st century. Increasing numbers of rural Australian communities are affected by profound changes to climate, environment and social life associated with open-cut mining and coal-fired power stations. This resea ....Open Cuts to Land and Culture: Rural Community Engagement with Large-Scale Industrial Development. The effects of coal mining and combustion on local communities have not been adequately researched even though export-oriented coal production is a key element of Australia's economy in the 21st century. Increasing numbers of rural Australian communities are affected by profound changes to climate, environment and social life associated with open-cut mining and coal-fired power stations. This research examines the impact of these developments in the Hunter Valley of NSW, from the point of view of local communities. The understandings we gain will offer government, corporate and community stakeholders the prospect of mutually beneficial outcomes in dealing with these impacts. Read moreRead less
Deservingness and emotions. The project will address a key neglected area in the psychology of emotion, namely on how different emotions relate to perceptions that outcomes such as success or failure are deserved or undeserved. It will add to leadership on this issue and contribute to Australia's worldwide reputation for research on social justice and deservingness. The project will have implications for applied areas of national significance that include health-related issues and issues concern ....Deservingness and emotions. The project will address a key neglected area in the psychology of emotion, namely on how different emotions relate to perceptions that outcomes such as success or failure are deserved or undeserved. It will add to leadership on this issue and contribute to Australia's worldwide reputation for research on social justice and deservingness. The project will have implications for applied areas of national significance that include health-related issues and issues concerned with national safety, given the fact that emotions like sympathy can determine helping behaviour, and emotions like resentment can trigger revenge and conflict.Read moreRead less
How do we seek justice after hurt, offence or terror? Retributive and restorative responses. The project will address a neglect of the concept of restorative justice in psychology. It will add to the leadership on this issue of Australian researchers from other disciplines and contribute to Australia's worldwide reputation in this field. The project will determine when people are motivated to use restorative justice. Hence, it will contribute to the effective implementation of restorative justic ....How do we seek justice after hurt, offence or terror? Retributive and restorative responses. The project will address a neglect of the concept of restorative justice in psychology. It will add to the leadership on this issue of Australian researchers from other disciplines and contribute to Australia's worldwide reputation in this field. The project will determine when people are motivated to use restorative justice. Hence, it will contribute to the effective implementation of restorative justice practices, for them to be considered legitimate and able to contribute to the reduction of crime, to reconciliation after conflict and international peace. The research seeks to make a contribution to a safer, more cohesive Australia and inform its missions for conflict resolution (in the region) and thus reduce causes of terrorism.Read moreRead less
When and why forgiveness promotes justice. Responding to victimisation with forgiveness has been credited with many positive effects; for individual victims in terms of their mental health, for the maintenance of social relationships, as well as for the reconciliation between larger groups after conflict. This research project will identify processes and conditions that make forgiveness more conducive to victims' sense of justice, and thus a more satisfying and effective response option. Next to ....When and why forgiveness promotes justice. Responding to victimisation with forgiveness has been credited with many positive effects; for individual victims in terms of their mental health, for the maintenance of social relationships, as well as for the reconciliation between larger groups after conflict. This research project will identify processes and conditions that make forgiveness more conducive to victims' sense of justice, and thus a more satisfying and effective response option. Next to advancing Australia's scholarship in this vibrant research field, the findings will help administrators give victims a sense of justice while repairing interpersonal and intergroup relations important for a healthy social fabric.Read moreRead less
Time and timelessness in Aboriginal societies as exemplified in Ngarinyin body-imagery. My project is an investigation of northern Kimberley trading practices, arguing against some pervasive views in the Aboriginalist literature which cast Aboriginal people and cultures as emphasising timelessness and de-emphasising human creativity. Kimberley trading/sharing practices, I suggest, show that exchanges (at various levels of formality) between groups and individuals are locally experienced as an ac ....Time and timelessness in Aboriginal societies as exemplified in Ngarinyin body-imagery. My project is an investigation of northern Kimberley trading practices, arguing against some pervasive views in the Aboriginalist literature which cast Aboriginal people and cultures as emphasising timelessness and de-emphasising human creativity. Kimberley trading/sharing practices, I suggest, show that exchanges (at various levels of formality) between groups and individuals are locally experienced as an active and ongoing participation in the creation of the bodies of kin and of the country itself. This is done in a way which actively participates in, rather than merely reproduces, the creative travels of the first ancestral beings. Phenomenology and psychoanalysis theoretically inform my approach.Read moreRead less
Persuasion through numbers: How majority and minority groups can change peoples’ attitudes and be agents of innovation and social change. Project develops a social psychological understanding of how people process, and are influenced by, persuasive arguments endorsed by majority and minority groups. New techniques examine which source (majority vs. minority) is associated with most message processing, the consequence of message processing to attitude change, and factors that affect the ability/ ....Persuasion through numbers: How majority and minority groups can change peoples’ attitudes and be agents of innovation and social change. Project develops a social psychological understanding of how people process, and are influenced by, persuasive arguments endorsed by majority and minority groups. New techniques examine which source (majority vs. minority) is associated with most message processing, the consequence of message processing to attitude change, and factors that affect the ability/motivation to engage in message processing. Project extends theory by developing a framework that is tested across new paradigms (including rare group studies). Results will increase understanding of when, and how, majorities and minorities change attitudes (and when they fail) which is valuable for practitioners and policy-makers involved in managing change.Read moreRead less
Recruiting and retaining Australian blood donors: A social-psychological analysis of the role of attitudes, identity, and norms. There has been little theory-based research examining the psychosocial predictors of blood donation, especially repeat blood donation, within an Australian context. This research seeks to assess the role of attitudes, identity and norms in predicting blood donation within rural and urban settings (Study 1) and for repeat blood donation amongst early career donors (Stud ....Recruiting and retaining Australian blood donors: A social-psychological analysis of the role of attitudes, identity, and norms. There has been little theory-based research examining the psychosocial predictors of blood donation, especially repeat blood donation, within an Australian context. This research seeks to assess the role of attitudes, identity and norms in predicting blood donation within rural and urban settings (Study 1) and for repeat blood donation amongst early career donors (Study 2). Study 3 will comprise two interventions designed to promote attitudinal and behavioural change for both blood donation initiation amongst current non-donors and repeat blood donation for early career donors. Identifying the predictors of blood donation for new and repeat donors will assist in the provision of this vital service within Australian health care settings.Read moreRead less
What makes unwritten rules work? A framework for understanding normative influence. Societies are regulated primarily by norms, which are unwritten, informal rules for appropriate behaviour. Governments, religious and cultural groups, and even families can all actively campaign to change people's standards or norms for behaviour. However, often people ignore the normative messages. As one example, child obesity rates in Australia continue to grow, despite years of campaigns on this issue. S ....What makes unwritten rules work? A framework for understanding normative influence. Societies are regulated primarily by norms, which are unwritten, informal rules for appropriate behaviour. Governments, religious and cultural groups, and even families can all actively campaign to change people's standards or norms for behaviour. However, often people ignore the normative messages. As one example, child obesity rates in Australia continue to grow, despite years of campaigns on this issue. Sometimes normative campaigns can even increase the problems they're trying to solve. For example, some research shows children targeted with anti-drug messages are more likely to abuse drugs. This research tests why normative campaigns fail, and how to solve the problem.Read moreRead less
Promoting intergroup forgiveness: The benefits and pitfalls of apologies and invocations of shared humanity. In the last 200 years Australians have found themselves as both perpetrators and victims of historical transgressions. This history of transgression has ongoing implications for how Australians deal with the present. It has implications for how Australians relate to Japan, for example, and has implications for relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The proposed resea ....Promoting intergroup forgiveness: The benefits and pitfalls of apologies and invocations of shared humanity. In the last 200 years Australians have found themselves as both perpetrators and victims of historical transgressions. This history of transgression has ongoing implications for how Australians deal with the present. It has implications for how Australians relate to Japan, for example, and has implications for relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The proposed research offers fresh ideas for understanding and promoting intergroup reconciliation and forgiveness. This information will contribute to the development of effective strategies for reconciling with the past, which will enhance our ability to anticipate and tackle critical threats to the cohesiveness of Australian society.Read moreRead less
What people say and do in response to negative feedback: Explaining and reducing defensiveness toward individual and group criticism. This research will allow us to devise, for the first time, a comprehensive account of how people respond to criticism, not just of their groups but also of themselves as individuals. The first part of the project (focusing on criticism of groups) will help provide specific recommendations regarding how to negotiate sensitive issues within and between a range of cu ....What people say and do in response to negative feedback: Explaining and reducing defensiveness toward individual and group criticism. This research will allow us to devise, for the first time, a comprehensive account of how people respond to criticism, not just of their groups but also of themselves as individuals. The first part of the project (focusing on criticism of groups) will help provide specific recommendations regarding how to negotiate sensitive issues within and between a range of cultural, national, and corporate groups. The second part of the project (focusing on criticism of individuals) will provide specific recommendations regarding how to deliver negative feedback to individuals, a skill that is particularly important in educational contexts and in the workplace. Read moreRead less