Moral disengagement is a process whereby the self-regulatory mechanisms that would otherwise sanction unethical conduct can be selectively disabled. The present research proposed that moral disengagement might be adopted in the endorsement of asylum seeker policies in Australia, and in order to test this, developed and validated a scale in two studies. Factor analysis demonstrated that a two-factor, 16-item structure had the best fit, and the construct validity of the scale was supported. Results provide evidence for the use of moral disengagement in the context of asylum seekers as a means of rationalizing conduct that may otherwise be sanctioned.

The earliest research on attitude formation and change was inspired by important social problems. What factors can cause people to like each other in social housing? How can people be made to remain favorable to the war against the Third Reich? How can we reduce prejudice? The list of applied research on attitude formation and change has grown over the years and now examines issues in the formation and change of attitudes toward a variety of objects, policies and behaviors. These include employment (e.g., job satisfaction, organizational commitment), health promotion (e.g., food attitude, sunscreen use), politics (e.g., campaign design, policy preference), product consumption (e.g., brand preference, methods of marketing), the environment (e.g., recycling, reduction of consumption) and sexual behavior (e.g., condom use), among other topics. It is now safe to say that the volume of applied research on attitude formation and change is truly enormous and important.

Australia has a rich history of immigration. Historically, immigrants have often met with negativity and distrust (for example, Greek, Italian and Vietnamese immigrants). Evidence is now accumulating that many Australians also are critical of the latest 'wave' of asylum seekers. In the present study, we were interested in the effect of the wider society on the social inclusion (or not) of asylum seekers using an ecological framework and in particular focusing on the 'macrosystem' and 'location'. To do this, we examined negative attitudes toward asylum seekers as well as their correlates collected from 649 members of the West Australian community. Our results indicate that participants who reported more negative views about asylum seekers were also significantly more .likely to report a fear of terrorism. Additionally, there were significant location differences in the strength of this relationship. Together with past research, our results indicate that context can greatly impact on the well-being of new Australians.

Drawing on attitude theories from social psychology, we conducted a survey of Australian pre-service (n = 327) and in-service (n = 127) teachers' attitudes about teaching children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This paper reports a content analysis of beliefs, affect and behaviours towards teaching children with ADHD and quantitative analyses pertaining to attitudinal ambivalence - that is, where a teacher may simultaneously report negative and positive evaluations of teaching children with ADHD. While on average, overall or global attitudes were mildly positive for both cohorts, considerable ambivalence about teaching children with ADHD was commonly experienced. Participants reported ambivalent beliefs, affect and behaviours, as well as ambivalence between these attitude components. Paradoxically, participants who knew more about ADHD and held stronger positive global attitudes about teaching children with ADHD reported less ambivalent behaviours towards these children, but reported more ambivalent beliefs. The implications for teachers' professional development and training are discussed.

A direct measure of attitude function was used to examine symbolic and instrumental elements of racial attitudes as a function of level of abstraction. Two studies were conducted in different countries, in which participants explained their thoughts and feelings concerning a specific (e.g., "Indians" or "Chinese") or abstract (e.g., "Ethnic Minorities") attitude object, and then rated the importance of each thought or feeling. A coding scheme was used to record the attitude function represented by each thought or feeling. In both studies, symbolic functions were more present for the abstract target than the specific targets. These differences have important implications for interventions and theories that address prejudice. They also provide evidence that functions of attitudes towards broader social groups cannot be regarded as the central tendency of functions toward subgroups, which is an important potential caveat to theories of social categorization.

Within psychology, the term "individuation" is used in several different ways. In person perception, it refers to perceiving a person as a unique constellation of features rather than as a category representative. In psychoanalytic and developmental psychology, it refers to one's sense of identity as an individual, autonomous, and separate person, and in family systems psychology, it concerns the degree to which a person maintains age-appropriate separateness and connectedness with their family. Finally, in perception and cognition, the individuation of objects refers to the ability to discern coherent objects from their surrounds, such that they can be counted.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood condition whose characteristic behaviours of hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity are salient in school settings. Teachers' actions and decisions when working with children who demonstrate behaviours consistent with ADHD can be expected to be impacted by their knowledge of ADHD, and their attitude toward teaching such children. Teachers are exposed to numerous sources of inconsistent information about ADHD during their training and classroom experience. The formation of attitudes in response to such complexity is poorly understood. The present research used models of attitude content, structure and strength to investigate the formation of teachers' knowledge of ADHD and attitudes toward teaching children who display its characteristics. The results are reported in journal article form comprising studies reported in Chapters 2 to 4. ... The findings from this project carry practical implications for teacher training on ADHD, and for school psychologists. Strong attitudes were shown to develop via combinations of direct, indirect and personal experiences with ADHD, and via amount and structural consistency of information and thought about ADHD. The results highlight the need to investigate such complex attitudes in ecologically valid ways. The development of models of attitude strength is important for understanding attitudes toward other social issues that polarise opinions and have enduring consequences, such as global warming or genetic modification of crops. Like ADHD, these topics are based on large amounts of structurally inconsistent information. Thus, the research reported in this thesis pertains to the formation of complex, real-life attitudes and may generalise to other multifaceted, personally relevant attitude objects.

Previous psychological research into immigration has tended to focus either on immigrants' adjustive behaviours, such as their acculturation preference, or on community attitudes towards immigrants. Recent models bring these lines of research together. This study examined effects of immigrants' perceptions of acceptance or rejection by the broader community (inclusionary status) on their psychological adaptation and satisfaction, and how this operates together with acculturation preference and first friendships. One hundred thirty-seven immigrants to Australia from 46 countries completed an English-language questionnaire. Results showed good psychological adaptation to life in Australia and strong satisfaction. Contrary to previous findings, preference for assimilation predicted greater satisfaction. The one variable that consistently predicted psychological adaptation and satisfaction when all other variables were controlled was inclusionary status. This related with preference for contact with Australians. First friendships were also important. To the extent that first friendships were among Australians, participants reported greater social inclusion, and this mediated a relation with better psychological adaptation. The results speak to the importance of providing opportunities for immigrants to make new friends in the receiving community. Future research should address acculturation preferences among Australians, and examine a possible disjunct between government policy and mainstream attitudes.

This thesis is about decolonisation and empowerment. It is specifically about First Nations people claiming or reclaiming their autonomy. This thesis explores concepts, in this case a focus on the term 'resilience', to address miscommunications and to perhaps minimise mistakes that can be made due to assumed knowledge; assumed congruence of terms and concepts. The history of psychology as a discipline is discussed, along with its role in the oppression of First Nations people worldwide, and in Australia. The importance of worldviews, and how miscommunications can affect healthcare, is critical for health professionals to understand. The discipline of psychology needs to ensure that it is not limiting its worldview by being too insular; it needs to be reflexive enough to both recognise its part in the history of oppression, and to become an agent of change for those who have been oppressed. Indigenous voices need to be heard as part of this reflexive psychology.

Over the last decade or so under the Howard Government, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding the unauthorised arrival of asylum seekers. In this study, we analysed data collected from 602 Western Australians. We investigated why people think the way they do about asylum seekers using the function of attitude literature as a base; specifically participants' values, their experience with asylum seekers, and their reliance on other sources for information. Results indicated that the Perth community overwhelmingly based their attitudes (positive or negative) on their values. Finally, we integrate these findings with other research regarding prejudice against asylum seekers, and give suggestions for attempting to present an alternative – more positive – view of asylum seekers than that often given.