Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Children’S ‘Playbour’ As Influencers On Social Media: An Investigation Into The Legal And Ethical Issues Surrounding Kidfluencers, Catherine J. Archer, Kate Mirandilla Delmo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The legal and ethical concerns around children performing as social media influencers (SMIs) on various social media platforms have been in the spotlight, with the recent world-first decision by the Australian Government to ban social media for those under 16. Social media influence is big business across the globe, with organisations investing in working with influencers to promote their brands and/or ideas. Some children now ‘work’, often managed by their parents, to produce posts that promote brands and ideas on behalf of organisations–not only to other children but also to adults. This paper presents findings of two case studies of …

Beyond Gatekeeping: Web Series As Entrepreneurial Emancipation In The Contemporary Streaming Era, Sarah De Possesse, Brian Yecies, Steinar Ellingsen, Sue Turnbull

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study explores fictional web series as a disruptive alternative to traditional television industry gatekeeping systems, offering actor/producers unprecedented pathways to creative agency and entrepreneurial career development. This research documents how practitioners, industry bodies, broadcasters, and audiences define “successful” web series, examining how “value” is generated beyond traditional economic metrics. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with a cross-section of Australian screen industry representatives, it applies an “entrepreneuring as emancipation” framework to reconceptualize the industrial significance of web series as vehicles for challenging established hierarchies. Finally, it analyzes how the low-budget format enables actor/producers to develop entrepreneurial identities through digital platforms while …

The Somatechnics Of Journalism: Applying An Embodied Perspective To Enduring Issues In Journalism Studies, Laura Glitsos, Mark Deuze

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This research applies Somatechnics to the study of journalism and contributes to an emergent epistemological “bodily turn” in the discipline of Journalism Studies. This is a turn toward the body, embodied experience, and the inevitable emotionality of journalism and the journalist as brought forth by Chantal Francoeur and Belinda Middleweek, among others. We invite journalism scholars (and practitioners) to understand journalists’ bodies as sophisticated organic technologies—and to subsequently understand how those bodies are further transmogrified by, and collapsed into, the ever-changing world of news media. We deploy a process of retheorising as a qualitative method in which researchers apply new …

Psychology's Questionable Research Fundamentals (Qrfs): Key Problems In Quantitative Psychology And Psychological Measurement Beyond Questionable Research Practices (Qrps), Jana Uher, Jan Ketil Arnulf, Paul T. Barrett, Moritz Heene, Jörg Henrik Heine, Jack Martin, Lucas B. Mazur, Marek Mcgann, Robert J. Mislevy, Craig Speelman, Aaro Toomela, Ron Weber

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Psychology's crises (e.g., replicability, generalisability) are currently believed to derive from Questionable Research Practices (QRPs), thus scientific misconduct. Just improving the same practices, however, cannot tackle the root causes of psychology's problems—the Questionable Research Fundamentals (QRFs) of many of its theories, concepts, approaches and methods (e.g., psychometrics), which are grounded in their insufficiently elaborated underlying philosophies of science. Key problems of psychological measurement are critically explored from independent perspectives involving various fields of expertise and lines of research that are well established but still hardly known in mainstream psychology. This comprehensive multi-perspectival review presents diverse philosophies of science that are …

Good Arts, Good Mental Health®: The Effectiveness Of An Australian Health Promotion Media Campaign In Promoting Community Mental Wellbeing Via The Arts, Christina R. Davies, Melanie T. Pescud, Rhonda Clifford, Richard Mcgrath, Annie Thomson, Mia Jeffrey, Melissa Stoneham, Terri Pikora, Peter Wright, Sonya Girdler, Loretta Baldassar, Stephen Clift

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: This study describes and evaluates Good Arts, Good Mental Health^® (GAGMH), a groundbreaking, population-level, arts-mental health promotion media campaign. The objectives of the campaign (Wave 1) were to increase brand awareness, comprehension, and agreement with the tagline Good Arts, Good Mental Health^® and empower the general population to form an intention to engage in the Arts for their mental wellbeing. Methods: The campaign ran from August to September 2024 (4 weeks), cost AUD$198,965 (23% creative and 77% media/advertising distribution), and targeted the Western Australian (WA) general population aged 18–65 years, all genders, in both metropolitan and regional …

Fostering An Inclusive And Sustainable Career Ecosystem: Empowering Neurodivergent Individuals And Employees To Thrive, William E. Donald, Elizabeth J. Cook, Nimmi P. Mohandas

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: This article synthesises contributions from the special issue “Fostering an inclusive and sustainable career ecosystem: empowering neurodivergent individuals and employees to thrive”. It reframes neurodivergence as a source of strength, while acknowledging the complex interplay between strengths and systemic challenges. The article advocates for evidence-informed strategies that promote inclusive and sustainable career pathways, emphasising the interaction between individual agency and structural change rather than commodifying neurodivergent talent as “superpowers”.

Design/methodology/approach: Guided by the sustainable career ecosystem theory, this article identifies five key principles derived from the nine contributions spanning four continents and seven countries. These principles are examined in …

Life Stories And Digital Learning: A Social Care Approach To Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Ageing, Loretta Baldassar, Emanuela Sala

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This brief report has been prepared to provide a written record of the program ‘Life Stories and Digital Learning: A Social Care Approach to CaLD Ageing’ (conducted in 2019 at MYVISTA aged care facility). It presents an evaluation of the program as reported by program participants and facilitators. It ends with brief recommendations and a summary of the learnings from the program.

Do Students’ Attitudes Toward Required Readings And Service-Learning For A Medical Humanities Course Predict Their Perception Of Whether The Course Fosters Their Personal And Professional Development?, Shane L. Rogers, Lon J. Van Winkle

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: To determine whether prospective medical students’ attitudes toward readings and service-learning for a Medical Humanities course predict their perceived impact of the course on their critical reflection and empathy for their peers. Methods: Following a Medical Humanities course, students completed surveys concerning their attitudes toward team-based service-learning and readings required for the course. And they completed surveys designed to measure their empathy for one another and thoughts and feelings about the course (e.g., “owing to this course, I have changed the way I look at myself” = critical reflection). Results: Students’ positive attitudes toward service-learning and readings for the …

Indigenous Wisdom For Regeneration: Reducing The Knowledge Gap, Sandra Wooltorton

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The author of this paper uses Indigenous-informed literature and explores the use of a Multispecies Collaboratory to hear place-based voices and practice ways of knowing often denied value by the mainstream. In the Indigenous nation of Australia, the author sets out to learn ways to practice environmental education that build upon aeons of experience at caring for and responding to Country. The starting point is a 2024 paper with three claims, which are: a culture of epistemic violence and denial support the mainstream paradigm which silences Indigenous voices; an Indigenous-informed way of being with living-places can inform the core of …

Philosophers On Prison Abolitionism: Theory Versus Practice, Piero Moraro

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Philosophers have long been debating the moral justifiability of punishment. However, they have seemingly ignored the adjacent question concerning the moral justifiability of incarceration, as demonstrated by the dearth of philosophical work on prison abolitionism. This silence is puzzling, given that, on closer examination, many philosophers implicitly (or even explicitly) endorse the core assumptions of prison abolitionism. By discussing some examples in the recent literature in philosophy of punishment, I argue that philosophers support prison abolitionism in practice, but not in theory. They endorse the practical strategies in the abolitionist agenda, yet refuse to engage with the normative assumptions that …

Barriers To Family And Domestic Violence Support For Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Women In Australia: A Systematic Review, Annastasya J. Watts, Suzanne Rock, Natalie Gately, Antionette L. Smith

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: This systematic review investigated barriers culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) Australian women encountered when seeking support for family and domestic violence (FDV). Despite CALD women’s heightened vulnerability to FDV due to factors like immigration status, language barriers, and limited social networks, research suggests persistent, multifaceted obstacles to help-seeking. Methods: A systematic review of both qualitative and quantitative studies was conducted for articles published in peer-reviewed literature and grey literature. Databases searched included MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, ProQuest, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science, applying inclusion criteria centered on Australia, FDV, CALD women, and access to support services for studies in …

The Relationship Between The Mental Health Of Refugee Parents And Their Children: An Investigation Of Australian Longitudinal Data, Katie Tills, Justine Dandy

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

We investigated the relationship between parent and child mental health, including parents’ general psychological distress, among refugees resettled in Australia. We utilised longitudinal data from a sample (N = 602 children and 377 parents) of recently settled refugees from the Building a New Life in Australia Survey). Parent psychological distress and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) were measured by the Kessler 6 and PTSD-8, respectively. Harsh and Warm parenting behaviours were also measured to explore the mechanisms underlying the parent-child mental health relationship. Child mental health was measured using the SDQ. Using path analysis, we found that increases in parent psychological …

Young Children Moving Through Ecological Anxiety And Grief: Dancing With Demolition, Jane Merewether, Jo Pollitt, Mindy Blaise

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

As the extent of planetary unraveling becomes increasingly apparent, scholars are beginning to document responses to the loss of ecological systems, mass extinctions, and climate change. However, there are few studies documenting children’s eco-anxiety responses. In this study, children’s eco-anxiety and grief became apparent when they expressed dismay at the imminent demolition of a derelict building. Children were concerned for the fate of the building, the land on which it stood, and the myriad others it sheltered. Using participatory and creative methodologies including dance, this project worked with children to tell a more-than-human story of becoming-with children-building-weeds-graffiti-dust-researchers-unhoused-bacteria-rats-and unloved others, which …

Return Serve: Exploring The Dialogism Of The Australia-China Relationship In Media Coverage Between 2020-2022, Jordan Hogan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Australia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have a dynamic bilateral relationship that is defined by interdependency and mutual political scepticism. This thesis provides an analysis of Australian and Chinese news media perspectives on this relationship. Via an in-depth examination of opinion pieces from national press, I map the significant developments of a period of deteriorating relations between 2020 and 2022. My study captures the more prominent, parochial and vitriolic media coverage of the unravelling relationship, and investigates the motivations, developments, differences, and similarities in the online publications of Australia’s national daily newspaper The Australian, and China’s Global Times. …

Browsing Within An Academic Library, Holt Zaugg, Jillian Bunderson

Faculty Publications

Purpose – Browsing library resources is a method long used by researchers to expand their understanding of ill-defined projects and to have serendipitous research discoveries. This study sought to understand the browsing activities of students in an academic library. Design/methodology/approach – The study used two methods. First, a link to an online survey was posted on posters throughout the library inviting students to share their browsing experience. Second, library security officers (student employees) were asked to count the number of people browsing within the stacks as they conducted their hourly walk-throughs of the library. Browsing was broadly defined as anyone …

Masculinism, Institutional Violence And #Metoo: Understanding Australian University Responses To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Emily Gray, Jacqueline Ullman, Mindy Blaise, Jo Pollitt

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article offers an analysis of data from the project Sexism, Higher Education, and Covid-19: The Australian Perspective. The authors argue that the gendered impact of the pandemic in Higher Education Institutions constitutes a form of institutionally perpetrated sexist harassment, and that raising awareness of the ways in which institutions themselves enable and perpetrate such harassment is consistent with the aims of the #MeToo movement. This article is intended to act as testament to the ways in which Australian universities function as masculinist institutions that, during this time of crisis, deployed tactics that were experienced by women and minority-identifying research …

Offenders’ Perspectives On Acquisitive Crime Targets And Stolen Goods Disposal Methods, Joseph Clare, Liam Quinn, Natalie Gately, Suzanne Rock

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper examines offenders’ perspectives about acquisitive crime targets and stolen goods markets in Australia that have not been comprehensively reviewed since 2005. Over the last 18 years there have been significant changes in the rates of property crime, reductions in cash usage, and rapid movements to online markets as a disposal outlet, that motivate this updated analysis. In late 2022, n = 107 detainees in a Western Australian police watchhouse were interviewed about their property offending frequency, offence preferences, target selection, disposal methods, and estimated financial return for targeted goods. Results demonstrated (a) meaningful shifts towards shoplifting and away …

Why Do We Pursue The Personal Goals We Do? The Relationships Between Distinct Goal Motives And Subjective Well-Being, Joanne M. Dickson, Vanessa Tan, Christopher D. Huntley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Personal motives drive and energize goal behavior. However, the relationships between distinct goal motives and subjective well-being (SWB) are not well understood. This study aimed to investigate how distinct goal motives related to SWB in a cross-national study. The sample comprised 197 participants (n = 95 Australians; n = 102 Singaporeans). Participants generated their two most important and meaningful idiographic goals that they were currently pursuing. They then completed an accompanying self-report goal motive questionnaire in relation to each listed personal goal, and a measure of SWB. Regression and moderation analyses were conducted. As predicted, relational autonomous motives were significantly …

Community Service Organizations And Actions For Climate Justice: An Exploration Of The Western Australian Context, Naomi Joy Godden, Bronte Alston, Kylie Wrigley, Shajimon Peter, Julie Nyanjom, Graham Hansen, Raphaela Raaber, Janine Joyce, Elizabeth Jackson-Barrett, Mehran Nejati, Doreen Wijekoon, Katharine Marsh, Caroline Porteous, Susan Bailey

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study utilized Feminist Participatory Action Research in collaboration with community service organizations (CSOs) in Western Australia to assess knowledges, capacities and capabilities regarding climate justice. Through surveys, interviews, and workshops, CSO workers explored organizational responses to climate change and social justice. Participants self-reported a low-to-medium understanding of climate justice and a desire for capacity building, especially in decolonial practice. Half of participating organizations had policies regarding climate change and social justice and engaged in climate advocacy, but identified a lack of sectorial and organizational leadership. Participants recommended opportunities for CSOs to operationalize climate justice and disaster resilience via climate …

The Monstrous-Digital: Data Necropolitics, Social Media, And The Assassination Of Brian Thompson, Laura Glitsos

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This research article examines the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the ensuing social media attention on the alleged shooter Luigi Mangione. I argue that the incident can be read as a cultural moment that captures the essence of an emergent sensibility that I call the “monstrous-digital” because of its layered and complex interconnections with the digital apparatus as a space of control and contestation. Specifically, I connect it to the biopolitical weaponization of computational systems, McQuillan’s (2015) algorithmic states of exception, and Pele and Mulholland’s (2023) data necropolitics. I approach this research using a qualitative case study method, …

Asian Women’S Studies After Three Decades: Institutional Success, Epistemic Limitations, And The Imperative Of Transnational Solidarity, Trimita Chakma

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article examines the three-decade project of Asian Women’s Studies (AWS), an institutional and epistemic endeavor that, while successfully challenging Western-centric feminism, inadvertently reproduced center–periphery dynamics. Drawing on archival research, interviews with AWS pioneers, and a systematic analysis of 414 articles from the Asian Journal of Women’s Studies (AJWS) between 2001 and 2021, this study explores AWS’s central paradox: efforts to decenter the West inadvertently created new regional hierarchies. The analysis reveals patterns including minimal personnel overlap (2.7%) between AJWS authors and Asian Association of Women’s Studies (AAWS) members, concentration in East Asia (58.5%, declining to 44.93% by 2022-2025) with …

Value Incoherence Precedes Value Change: Evidence From Value Development In Childhood And Adolescence Across Cultures, Ella Daniel, Anat Bardi, Julie A. Lee, Ricarda Scholz-Kuhn, Einat Elizarov, Jan Cieciuch, Ariel Knafo-Noam, Alice Ramos, Michele Vecchione, Rene Algesheimer, Evelia Murcia Alvarez, Avital Ben Dror Lankry, Maya Benish-Weisman, Ricardo Borges Rodriques, Anat Chomsky, Patricia R. Collins, Eldad Davidov, Anna K. Doring, Stefanie Habermann, Dana Katsoty, Martin Kindschi, Elena Makarova, Gilda Marsicano, Kinneret Misgav, Thomas P. Oeschger, Leonor Pereira Da Costa, Joanne Sneddon, Iva Tendais, Louise Twito-Weingarten

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

We test the theory that personality incoherence may instigate personality change in the context of personal values. Values’ near-universal organization makes value incoherence assessment straightforward. The study included 13 longitudinal samples from seven cultures (Australia, Israel Palestinian citizens, Israel Jewish majority, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Switzerland), total N = 7,126, and T1 Mage ranging between 6 and 18. Each participant reported values between two- and six-times. Using unfolding analysis, we calculated the fit of the internal value structure of each participant at the first time point to the value structure in their sample (normative structure) and to the theoretical structure …

Split Nationality Households: A Strategic Response To Optimise The Citizenship Constellations Of Transnational Families, Catriona Stevens

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This paper explores the citizenship choices of Chinese migrants in Australia who must evaluate the relative benefits of Australian versus Chinese legal citizenship. Given the insecurities inherent in non-citizen status in either country, many families decide some members will take Australian citizenship while others retain Chinese citizenship in combination with Australian permanent residency. Forming these split nationality households aims to optimise the benefits and limit risk across all jurisdictions, attempting to exert control over personal circumstances and manage feelings of fear and anxiety in the face of unpredictable national policies and broader geopolitical instability. The paper extends Bauböck's concept of …

Willingness To Pay For Blue-Green Space And Koala Habitat Protection Following A Covid-19 Versus Bushfire Experimental Prime, Zoe Leviston, Rubijayne Cohen, Stephanie Gorman, Zoe Becvarik, Aparna Lal

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Community-supported investment in blue-green space and fauna habitat protection is important, yet the drivers of willingness to pay (WTP) are poorly understood. Moreover, research on WTP for environmental services rarely considers the role of context in determining which services donors prefer. We address these gaps with a novel experimental approach (N = 360), randomly assigning participants to a condition priming either Covid19, the Australian 2019-2020 bushfires, or to one of two control conditions. We measured subsequent WTP for blue-green space and koala habitat, finding mostly non-significant effects for experimental condition on WTP, preparedness to donate, or the importance placed on …

Balancing Digital Presents And Futures: Understanding First-Time Parents’ Practices, Plans And Perceptions Of ‘Quality’ And Risk In Young Children's Digital Engagements, Katrin Langton, Emma Jayakumar, Harrison W. See, Catherine Archer, Giselle Woodley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Parents in Australia today have to make decisions about what counts as appropriate digital media use for their young children in a cultural context characterised by conflicting advice, impractical screen use recommendations and risk-focussed media messaging. These conditions make it challenging for parents to purposefully approach and plan not only their children's current digital engagements but also their futures as digital citizens. How parents negotiate these tensions in managing their young children's digital presents, and how they approach planning for their digital futures, remains underexplored. This paper presents the findings of two rounds of qualitative interviews and three focus groups …

Determinants Of Social Loneliness And Negative Coping Styles Of The Socially Lonely, Mark A. Facey, Craig P. Speelman

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Almost everyone is affected by loneliness at some stage in their lives, and the long-term effects are dire, leading to depression, addiction, and suicide. To date, interventions have focused on external treatments with limited success. In this study, it is argued that underlying antecedents of social loneliness maintain negative behaviour, whereby it becomes chronic and problematic. Four intrinsic antecedents of social loneliness are examined (Secure and Insecure Attachment, Emotional Regulation Problems – Expressive Suppression, Unclear Self-Concept, and Neuroticism) along with negative (Ignoring and Withdrawing) behavioural coping styles. Ninety-six, mainly female (78%), psychology undergraduates were administered a battery of six questionnaires. …

Efficacy Of A School-Based Mental Health Intervention Among Zambian Youth: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial, Sherinah Saasa, Kaitlin P. Ward, Cleopas G. Sambo, Paula Barrett, Cheuk Yan Lau

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

While many children in Africa face notable psychological problems, the majority do not receive needed mental health services. The My FRIENDS Youth Program, a universal cognitivebehavioral intervention for anxiety prevention and resilience enhancement, has demonstrated effectiveness across cultures in children and adolescents. This study explores whether the program's effectiveness extends to Zambian children. Participants were 75 children and adolescents (53% female, ages 10-15) attending low-income schools in Zambia. Four schools were randomly assigned to an intervention (n=44) or waitlist control (n=31). The intervention consisted of 10 weekly sessions plus two booster sessions administered in group format. Assessments were conducted at …

Analysing The Behaviour Change Techniques In An Effective Food Literacy Program To Inform Future Program Design, Lucy M. Butcher, Caylah Batt, Sophie Royce, Eamon Barron, Roslyn Giglia, Andrea Begley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aim: Food literacy programs aim to improve food related skills and knowledge and are selected Governments as a strategy to address dietary intakes at a community level. The purpose of this research is to identify behaviour change techniques in a food literacy program, which were assessed by the achievement of participant goals related to food literacy and dietary behaviour changes. Methods: Consensus methods were applied to map behaviour change techniques to an adult food literacy program. A second phase investigation applied content analysis of participant process evaluation data (collected between 2016 and June 2021) to align target behaviours and behaviour …

Evaluation Of The Sources Of Sexual Knowledge And Information Among Men In Kenya, Darlene Mwende Ndasi, Kwadwo Adusei-Asante, Anh Vo Van Ha, Madalena Grobbelaar, Victor Fannam Nunfam

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Sources of sexual knowledge and information among men have impact on quality of their sexual literacy and decision making. Sexual knowledge impacts on sexual attitudes, which underpin sexual behaviours and in turn impacts the sexual health outcomes of men. A cross-sectional quantitative survey was used to assess the sources of sexual knowledge and information among 484 Kenyan adult men aged 18–54. Data analysis was performed with STATA-16. Results showed that 79% of men learned about sex from school-based sex education, 75% and 72% from peers and mass media respectively while healthcare professionals (35%) and parents (28%) had the lowest influence …

The Role Of Team Compassion In Mitigating The Impact Of Hierarchical Bullying, Ben Farr-Wharton, Ace V. Simpson, Yvonne Brunetto, Tim Bentley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Hierarchical bullying in public healthcare organizations is an entrenched negative behaviour that results in a range of adverse outcomes for staff, including diminished wellbeing. This study integrates social exchange and conservation of resources theories as a lens for formulating hypotheses and employs multilevel statistical modelling to examine whether team-level compassion moderates the impact of hierarchical bullying on wellbeing. Using multilevel statistical modelling, the study analysed cross-sectional data from 632 healthcare workers nested within 48 teams in a single public health district in Australia. The findings indicate that work teams with higher levels of team compassion can mitigate the negative effects …