Refereed Proceedings of Doing Psychology: Manawatu Doctoral Research Symposium 2012
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We are again delighted to present to you the Refereed Proceedings of the Doing Psychology: Manawatū Doctoral
Research Symposium. The Symposium was held on November 22, 2012, at the School of Psychology, Manawatū
campus. The number of presentations increased from 8, in our inaugural year, to 13 and again saw a diverse range
of presentations from Doctoral candidates at all stages of their study.
The Symposium is a student initiative that not only gives students the chance to present their work in a supportive
environment, but also to gain experience in writing a concise paper for publication. All papers are peer reviewed
by Doctoral peers and/or new PhD recipients, and the editorial team comprises solely of Doctoral candidates,
who have gained valuable skills from the copyediting and publishing process. Indeed, the mission statement of
this publication must be that the Symposium and proceedings publication is run by students, for students with a
commitment to enable and develop presentation, writing and publication skills.
Due to increased interest and support, the proceedings are now a serial publication, and we have increased our
organising and editorial team for the upcoming 2013 Symposium to be held on November 29. Our team now
comprises of Maria Benschop, Stephanie Denne, Ross Hebden, Melissa Rangiwananga and Ann Rogerson.
Thanks once again to our Head of School Associate Professor Mandy Morgan for opening the proceedings and
for her continued support for our venture. We also recognise the support and commitment from all staff within the
School of Psychology, in particular Harvey Jones for his assistance with the publication process.
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- ItemAlcohol Use and Older Māori People: Reason for Further Investigation?(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Herbert, SarahWhen considering alcohol use in New Zealand, the focus is often on ‘binge drinking cultures’ of younger generations. However, this paper, based on a literature review, will illustrate the need to better understand alcohol use among older Māori people in New Zealand. There are a number of reasons for this. First, with the phenomenon of an ageing population older people will make up a significant proportion of the total population in the future and Statistics New Zealand (2006) predicts there will be a significant increase in the number of older Māori people in particular. Second, there is a wide range of health outcomes associated with alcohol use, both positive and negative which emphasize the need to better understand how alcohol may influence older people’s health and wellbeing. Third, research suggests that among older people in general, there are high rates of problematic alcohol use and it has been argued that these rates may be higher because, in many cases, problem drinking is not identified among older people. Specifically, research conducted in New Zealand indicates that a) alcohol use among older people is becoming an increasing area of concern and b) Māori people in particular are more likely to be engaging in hazardous alcohol use. However, very little research has been done to better understand alcohol use among older people and, in particular, alcohol use among older Māori. These factors emphasize the need for better understanding of older Māori people’s alcohol use in order to ensure their health and wellbeing in the future.
- ItemContemporary Masquerade: Work-Life Balance and Modern Tragedies of (Mis)Perceived/(Mis)Placed Social Agency(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Rogerson, Ann; Morgan, Mandy; Coombes, LeighWithin contemporary life, women struggle within discourses of stay-at-home mothering and working mother in terms of the detriment to a child’s development. Although contemporary research tends to isolate work-life balance as a separate set of conflicting discourses to study, I suggest that this isolation is misleading. Work-life balance encompasses every aspect of a woman’s speaking being or conscious home, social, caring and working experiences. Considering work-life as allencompassing allows for interesting interpretations when framing women’s work-life experiences within the confines of a language that seeks to dissect them into discrete parts. Furthermore, conflict surrounding work and life is not new and provide a cornerstone of traditional psychoanalytic theories of human development. Within this paper, I consider contemporary discourses of work-life balance, within the context of Riviere’s psychoanalytical concept of masquerade and Lacanian psychoanalysis that rereads Freud’s original works as a theory of discourse.
- ItemEditorial - Refereed Proceedings of Doing Psychology: Manawatū Doctoral Research Symposium 2012(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Rogerson, Ann; Denne, Stephanie
- ItemFrom “Loving It” to “Freaking Out” and Back Again: The Engagement of a Mature-Aged Distance Student in their First Semester at University.(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Kahu, Ella RStudent engagement is a student’s emotional, behavioural, and cognitive connection to their studies. Evidence suggests engagement is vital to both success and satisfaction at university. A conceptual framework of student engagement, developed from research in psychology, sociology, and education, argues that engagement does not occur in isolation; rather it is embedded within a complex network of antecedents and consequences. This paper presents a case study of a 47 year old solo mother’s first semester at university. An interpretive analysis uses the framework to illuminate how student engagement changes throughout the semester and how the various university and student factors influence that process. Interviews at each end of the semester plus fortnightly video diaries were used to collect rich detailed data about the student’s experiences. The embedded nature of student engagement is apparent, with emotion as a key mechanism by which student and university factors influence engagement. In particular, the student’s interest in the topic triggers a high level of engagement resulting in deep integrated learning. At other times, difficulties with university processes and poor support from staff trigger negative emotions that reduce engagement.
- ItemGlobalisation: The Experience of Malay Adolescents with Conduct Problems(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Daud, Mohd Najmi; Coombes, Leigh; Venkateswar, Sita; Ross, KirstyThis paper attempts to explore the experiences of Malay ado-lescents with conduct problems within the Malaysian context of globalisation. It is undeniable that to some extent globalisation offers opportunities for a country to progress to be a greater and more competitive nation. In fact, the Malaysian government is highly inspired by the concept of globalisation in progressing towards the vision of becoming a developed nation by the year 2020. Nevertheless, globalisation as a process is very demanding requiring a lot of changes in the Malaysian political, cultural, economic, educational and social landscape. In addition, many of the changes require inculcating foreign cultural values that tend to be inconsistent with local practices. Without adequate preparation, such inconsistency potentially affects the locally defined well-being among vulnerable groups, especially adolescents. There is consistent evidence that shows a significant relationship between changes with respect to globalisation and conduct problems among adolescents. However, how far the affected adolescents understand and adapt with the globalisation process, particularly in the Malaysian context remains elusive. Therefore, it is essential to explore their understandings and experiences on different aspects of globalisation that significantly affect their lives.
- ItemInto the Void: The Gap Between N-Back and Complex Span Tasks Suggests Inadequacies in Current Models of Working Memory(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Campbell, Kathryn; HIll, Stephen; Podd, JohnThe tasks used to assess working memory are a highly contentious issue in cognitive psychology. Previous research has found a weak relationship between two key types of working memory tasks: N-Back and Complex Span. This is commonly interpreted as evidence that one or both tasks possess poor construct validity. However, this finding may be a result of assessing different modalities of working memory. The current pilot study aimed to clarify the differences between the two tasks by assessing performance on each within the same modality. A spatial and verbal version of each task was used. Although, theoretically, these tasks assess the same construct, the pilot data revealed low correlations between them. This suggests that the current models of working memory may be inadequate, or that unidentified differences between the tasks may be influencing the results. Due to their widespread use and applications, it is important to better understand models of working memory and develop improved tasks.
- ItemLiving with Self-Injury: A New Direction in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Research(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Hastelow, KatherineNon-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) has become an increasing area of research over the last two decades, however this has been limited to capturing prevalence rates and discovering intents and purposes. Recent research found that nearly 50% of New Zealand teenagers will try it at least once, and in the western world around 15% of teenagers and young adults will do it repeatedly. Most of the research in this area has been focused on the injury or harm part of NSSI, with little focus on the effects of NSSI on identity or life experiences. NSSI itself can induce guilt and shame, increasing likelihood of repetition, giving it a cyclic nature. Both the physical scars and identity as a “self-injurer” are surrounded by secrecy and stigma and tend to be managed or hidden, with implications for social relations.The current paper briefly reviews past research on NSSI, before discussing possibilities for future research seeking to address the current imbalance. The proposed research focuses not on the NSSI itself, but on its wider effects and how living with NSSI is experienced, both for the individual self-injuring and for the people around them.
- ItemThe Mediating Role of Happiness in the Relationship Between Older Adults’ Intentional Activities and Health(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Henricksen, Annette; Stephens, ChristineThe present study examined the nature of relationships between older adults’ intentional happiness-enhancing activities, happiness and health outcomes, and extended previous research by testing the prediction that happiness mediates the relationship between intentional activities and health. Multiple regression analysis of survey responses from a representative population sample of 2289 adults (aged 55-73 years) was employed to test predictions. Happiness was found to fully mediate the relationship between socially related activities and physical health, to partially mediate the relationships between personal interest and achievement oriented activities and physical health, and to fully mediate the relationships between these types of intentional activity and mental health. Results support the utility of investigating older adult’s intentional activities as a determinant of happiness and indicate that they also benefit health outcomes through happiness.
- ItemParenting and Fatherhood: Causal Attributions and Disciplinary Responses for Child Misbehaviour(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Mackie, Kayla; Evans, Ian MChanging gender roles and a different emphasis on what it means to be a father in New Zealand have contributed to fathers being required to play a new, more involved role in their children’s lives. For many fathers today, contributing to decisions and application of discipline for bad behaviour is an important part of their parenting role. Research suggests that children benefit from consistent disciplinary routines. However, the attitude in New Zealand is that harsh discipline, particularly of a physical nature, is undesirable and needs to be discouraged. An important area for investigation is ways parenting decisions can be influenced in a positive direction, using simple psychological techniques that are easy to apply in the real world. Positive affective priming involves exposing people to stimuli, or primes, in order to influence their thoughts, emotions and behaviours in a specified direction. A potential practical application of positive affective priming may be in clinical use with fathers to influence their disciplinary choices in response to a child’s bad behaviour, in a positive (less harsh) direction. This paper considers the literature relevant to the use of positive affective priming for this purpose.
- ItemThe Politics of Policing Family Violence in New Zealand: An Overview(School of Psychology, Massey University,, 2012) Benschop, Maria; Coombes, Leigh; Morgan, Mandy; Gammon, RuthIn 2012, the New Zealand Police introduced a new Family Violence Policy to guide police response to family violence occurrences including a new tool for assessing situational risk factors. The Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) is a 13 item actuarial measure for intimate partner assault recidivism developed in Canada (Hilton, Harris, Rice, Houghton & Eke, 2008). It is crucial to understand how the changes in police policy and procedures that involve ODARA affect the safety and wellbeing of domestic violence victims. Victim safety and protection are policing priorities. The police response and understanding of family violence has changed over the last 40 years from police viewing the domestic incident as a private relationship matter with minimal police intervention, to a criminal investigation developing from the pro arrest strategy (Ford, 1986; Ford, 1993). This paper traces the history of policing policy changes in family violence that led to the introduction of ODARA in 2012. Four key turning points are identified, with the aim of gathering an understanding of how policy emerges in policing family violence.
- ItemProblematising Effectiveness: The Inclusion of Victim Advocacy Services in Living Without Violence Programme Provision and Evaluation(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Denne, Stephanie; Coombes, Leigh; Morgan, MandyAdvocacy services in collaboration with living without violence programmes have the potential to increase experiences of safety and well-being for the victims of domestic violence. However, advocacy services are not always offered within programmes and the influence of advocacy is often over-looked when evaluating the ‘effectiveness’ of programme provision. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of semi-structured interviews with five (ex) partners of men who had completed a living without violence programme found that advocacy services meaningfully increased victims’ feelings of safety and well-being independent from changes, or lack of change, in the men’s violent behaviour. Therefore, victim advocacy may be a valuable addition to living without violence programmes and can potentially offer a broader, multidimensional understanding of ‘effectiveness’ in evaluations of programme success.
- ItemRefereed Proceedings of Doing Psychology: Manawatū Doctoral Research Symposium(School of Psychology, Massey University,, 2012) Rogerson, Ann; Denne, Stephanie
- ItemSurviving and Thriving: An Introduction to Childhood and Youth Post-Disaster Recovery in the Context of the Canterbury Earthquakes of 2010-2012(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Mooney, Maureen F; Johal, Sarb; Paton, Douglas; Tarrant, Ruth; Johnston, DavidPotentially traumatic experiences, such as disasters, represent particularly complex experiences. While generally agreed that adversity has definite effects at a population level, the nature of these effects is open to debate. Past research has tended to focus on vulnerability and trauma. However, recent research suggests that experiencing adversity can sometimes be resolved in terms of enhanced well-being, and capacities to adapt. The specific focus of this paper is on children and youth, as there has been minimal research on how models of adaptation and accommodation in adults may apply to young people. The study seeks to further understanding of factors and processes that promote positive coping, adaptation, and wellbeing. It will examine adaptation using a study of experience over the course of a recovery process. A repeated measures approach will examine recovery processes, including resilience and post-traumatic growth. It is hoped that results will inform future preparation for adversity, and increase support to children and youth recovering from challenging life experiences, including disasters.
- ItemTe Turangawaewae o te Whakaohooho Mauri: The Conceptual Home-Place of the Re-Awakening Indigenous Spirit(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Waireti; (Roestenburg, Michelle)Resilience of Indigenous identities, life-ways and knowledge is the topic of my doctoral thesis. To enable the holistic unity of Indigenous being, feeling, thinking, and doing to become visible and meaningfully viable to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people within and without the empirically dominated domain of academic positivism, a cosmologically sourced, ethnographically supported turangawaewae or conceptual home-place has been developed. An Indigenous space of meaning to investigate and provoke a discursive continuum of Indigenous resilience that enables resilient Indigenous identities, and the multiple phases they embody to be conceptualised and incorporated, while also embracing notions of Eurocentric resilience and the comparative psychological implications these unearth. To illumine the global process of re-emerging Indigenous identity resilience by exploring how Indigenous people experience the process of personal and collective reconnection to their ancestral Indigenous identities, tikanga Māori, Mana Wahine philosophies, and kaupapa Māori methodologies complete the home-place developed to receive and care for the research collaborators, and question. A place that enables ethical and congruent cultural interpretations of Indigenous identities and the liberation of Indigenous thought, practices, and discourse. This paper traces the developmental terrain of this turangawaewae or conceptual home-place.
- ItemWade in the Water: Awash in the Sense of Adoption(School of Psychology, Massey University, 2012) Blake, Denise; Morgan, Mandy; Coombes, LeighA discursive approach to knowledge contends that language is the constitutive force of experience and lived reality. Meaning is created through language use within relationships, while discourses function as the statements that produce knowledge, power and truth claims. We cannot step outside of the discourses through which our knowledge of experience is produced, though their complexity always allows us to resist particular identities that are discursively available to us. Based on interviews with 12 adoptees constituted within the ‘closed’ adoption period between 1955 and 1985, this narrative analysis represents the way in which the adoptive body matters to participants’ experiences of adoption and their resistances to the discourses that produce knowledge of adoption: Embodiment needed to be incorporated into this discursive work. Knowing, accessing and beingin- the-world are achieved through our senses in everyday life. We engage and shape cultural norms that enable and constrain corporeality. The adoptive experience is lived and felt through bodies that struggle to articulate their corporeality through discourse. Without discourses fit for purpose, speaking embodiment in and through adoption is precarious and adoptees attempt to articulate subjectivities beyond those allowed. This paper discusses the strategies used to materialise body matters in researching adoption.
