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    Exploring disputed acts of bullying: A study of manager perceptions in New Zealand
    (Cambridge University Press in association with Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, 2025-07-07) Tootell B; Croucher S; Cullinane J; Ashwell D; Ratten V
    Workplace bullying is a persistent issue despite extensive research, with most studies focusing on targets rather than managerial perspectives. This study explores how New Zealand managers conceptualize workplace bullying, shedding light on cultural and organizational influences. While bullying affects roughly one in 10 New Zealand workers, definitions remain inconsistent, complicating prevention and response efforts. This research investigates whether managers distinguish bullying from other forms of conflict and aggression, and how their views align with regulatory definitions such as those from WorkSafe New Zealand. A randomized Qualtrics panel of 316 managers completed an anonymous online survey, including open-ended questions. Responses were analysed using six-phase thematic analysis, enabling candid reflection and rich insights into bullying behaviours, impacts, and organizational dynamics. The findings highlight the importance of understanding bullying within its communication context and suggest that clearer, less stigmatized definitions may support more effective reporting and intervention by managers.
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    From individual behaviors to collective outcomes: fruiting body formation in Dictyostelium as a group-level phenotype
    (Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for the Study of Evolution, 2023-03-01) Kuzdzal-Fick JJ; Moreno A; Broersma CME; Cooper TF; Ostrowski EA
    Collective phenotypes, which arise from the interactions among individuals, can be important for the evolution of higher levels of biological organization. However, how a group's composition determines its collective phenotype remains poorly understood. When starved, cells of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum cooperate to build a multicellular fruiting body, and the morphology of the fruiting body is likely advantageous to the surviving spores. We assessed how the number of strains, as well as their genetic and geographic relationships to one another, impact the group's morphology and productivity. We find that some strains consistently enhance or detract from the productivity of their groups, regardless of the identity of the other group members. We also detect extensive pairwise and higher-order genotype interactions, which collectively have a large influence on the group phenotype. Whereas previous work in Dictyostelium has focused almost exclusively on whether spore production is equitable when strains cooperate to form multicellular fruiting bodies, our results suggest a previously unrecognized impact of chimeric co-development on the group phenotype. Our results demonstrate how interactions among members of a group influence collective phenotypes and how group phenotypes might in turn impact selection on the individual.
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    Perceptions of intercultural empathy, peace, and the "other" among Palestinians and Israelis : a qualitative analysis utilising grounded theory and integrated threat theory (ITT) : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2021) Jackson, Kelsea
    International conflict among and within nations is becoming more dire and magnified. Cyclical violence ensues as the victim/oppressor paradigm is perpetuated, thus instigating militant discourse. Cyclical violence becomes an anticipated pattern, while simultaneously appearing unavoidable due to antiquated or otherwise inadequate peace processes, most often overlooking the most vulnerable. To address these concerns, this research project explores the broad interplay of intercultural empathy, perceptions of peace and the “other,” and elements of integrated threat theory. Specifically, this study explores how Israelis conceptualize intercultural empathy in regard to Palestinians and examines how Israelis perceive the possibility of peace within the Palestinian Israeli conflict. “Peace” as a concept is explored in addition to “intercultural empathy,” and how Israelis conceptualize these familiar words. This study also explores what factors or experiences have influenced Palestinian and Israeli individuals’ perception of the “other.” This study adds to our understanding of the Israelis’ perspective of the “other” as the dominant group and influencer within the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Results reported in this dissertation indicate a significant perception of realistic and symbolic threat from Israeli participants toward Palestinians. It was also found participants had a cognitive understanding of empathy and intercultural empathy, though that understanding did not necessarily translate into more productive emotional empathy or position taking. Peace as an outcome was overwhelmingly viewed as impossible by Israeli participants. This dissertation contributes to the field of integrated threat theory from a qualitative approach in the context of intercultural conflict. This paper is a starting point for researchers and those involved in curricula development and intercultural training when engaging conflicting parties in key peacebuilding processes.