Traditionally, it has been the cognitive-developmental approach that has dominated moral judgment research. Specifically, it has been Kohlberg’s theory of moral development (1969, 1986) that has provided the theoretical framework for much of the research in the field. According to the Kohlbergian perspective, individuals are rational agents who engage in conscious deliberation in order to reach a moral judgment or decision. In contrast to this, the social intuitionist model of moral judgment (Haidt, 2001; Haidt & Bjorklund, 2007) proposes that it is the individual’s immediate affective reactions to events are the overriding cause of moral judgment. In addition to this, the model proposes that the social context is an equally important determinant of moral judgment. Emergent group norms are said to directly shape the moral judgments of the individual, with the moral judgments of friends, allies and acquaintances having a direct bearing on the moral judgments one makes, even those made and held privately. In the current thesis, the impact of social persuasion - group norms, audience, and social identity - on moral judgment was investigated, using the methods and meta-theoretical framework of the social identity approach. In Studies 1 (N = 98) and 2 (N = 60) the influence of group norms and level of identification with the reference group on participants’ moral evaluations was assessed. The results of these studies revealed that participants’ evaluation of the target issue (the sex selection of children) was not influenced by the group norms to which they were exposed. In both studies, the interaction between norm and identification was also found to be non-significant. Under investigation in Studies 3, 4, and 5 was the impact of normative influence on participants’ moral evaluations. In Study 3 (N = 186) the impact of group norms, level of identification, and audience expectation on participants’ moral evaluations of morally-tinged scenarios and issues were assessed. Those exposed to a norm portraying the reference group as judgmental tended to be harsher in their evaluations than those exposed to a non-judgmental norm, but the effect was weak and inconsistent. Contrary to expectation, identification and audience were not found to interact with the norm manipulation. Study 4 (N = 93) focused exclusively on the impact of audience expectation on participants’ moral evaluation. Participants evaluated a number of morally-tinged scenarios either alone, under the expectation that their responses would be visible to an audience (with either the opportunity to justify their evaluations, or not), or under the pretext of being connected to a lie-detector. Contrary to expectation, no significant difference in participants’ moral evaluations was found across the four audience conditions. To discount the possibility that the lack of normative influence on moral evaluation obtained in Study 4 was due to methodological limitation (i.e., the audience category was too broad), the selection of participants and the choice of audience were modified for Study 5 (N = 54). In Study 5, Christian students were required to make their moral evaluations under the expectation that their responses would be made visible to either a Christian or student audience. Contrary to expectation, only a subtle effect of audience was found in relation to both the morally tinged issues and the morally tinged scenarios. Participants in the Christian audience condition were found to evaluate only a small number of the issues (3 of 10), and only one of the four scenarios more negatively than those in the student audience condition. In Studies 6 and 7 the impact of social identity factors on participants’ moral evaluations was investigated. In Study 6 (N = 45), the extent to which participants’ moral evaluation were influenced by their social identity was assessed. In this study, participants had either their Christian identity or their student identity made salient when making their evaluations. No difference in participants’ moral evaluations was found between the Christian identity and student identity salience conditions. In Study 7 (N = 68), the extent to which participants’ political identity influenced their moral evaluation of government policy was assessed. Participants (who were either Australian Labor Party supporters or Australian Liberal Party supporters) were led to believe that the policies had been proposed by either the Australian Labor Party or the Australian Liberal Party. It was found that participants’ political affiliation contributed to their moral evaluation of the presented policies. Overall, the current program of studies provides a first step toward understanding the impact that group norms, audience, and social identity factors have on the evaluation component of moral judgment. It suggests that morality is complex, and that moral judgments may be amenable to social influence, albeit weakly. Theoretical and practical implications for this research are discussed with reference to social identity theory and the broader literature on moral psychology.

ABSTRACT Exploitation of older people can result in devastating emotional and financial consequences. Researchers and policy makers have widely recognised the deleterious effects of exploitation on older adults, particularly cognitively impaired older people. Studies to date have provided basic information about the demographic and health characteristics that contribute to exploitation in later life, namely extreme dependence, frailty, social isolation, severe physical illness, and cognitive impairment. However, an overarching explanatory framework of vulnerability, and clinical instruments to aid with identifying those individuals at elevated risk of exploitation a priori have been lacking. Furthermore, the specific cognitive and social factors at the level of the individual which promote vulnerability to exploitation remain largely unexplored. The present research was directed towards addressing these issues. For definitional purposes, the term social vulnerability is used throughout in reference to an individual’s degree of susceptibility to exploitation. Exploitation of older people can take many forms including social and sexual exploitation, mistreatment, and deprivation of rights. Financial exploitation in particular is a relatively widespread phenomenon among older people, and may be a salient marker of social vulnerability in later life. In Chapter 1 of this dissertation, literature relevant to financial exploitation and social vulnerability more generally among older people is reviewed, and a conceptual framework for describing and explaining heightened vulnerability is presented. Central to this framework are various factors of personal competence at the level of the individual (i.e., intelligence, cognitive functioning, social intelligence, social skill, personality traits) which, in theoretical terms, contribute to, or protect against, exploitation. Chapter 2 details the development and psychometric evaluation of a standardised scale for assessing social vulnerability among older adults (termed the SVS15). Given that financial exploitation may be a pertinent marker of social vulnerability in older people, item content for the scale includes items of a financial nature. The results of two studies provided support for the reliability (internal consistency) and validity (known-groups) of the SVS15. Results of a factor analysis revealed a two-factor solution, with the emerging factors labelled gullibility and credulity. Stability in factor structure of the SVS15 was established in an independent sample using structural equation modelling. Chapters 3 and 4 of the dissertation detail the methodology employed in, and results of, a series of three studies systematically investigating the relationships between personal competence factors and social vulnerability in older people. Using multiple regression analyses, non-significant associations between basic demographic characteristics and social vulnerability were found in a nonclinical older sample, indicating that heightened vulnerability to exploitation is not readily explained by age, gender, or education. Rather, general cognitive functioning emerged as the most significant correlate of SVS15 scores in a combined clinical and nonclinical sample of older adults such that poorer cognitive functioning was associated with greater vulnerability to exploitation. Executive functioning in particular showed significant overlap with SVS15 scores after controlling for differences in memory and age. These results support the inclusion of standardised neuropsychological tests of memory and executive functioning (tests which are routinely used) when issues of social vulnerability arise. After general cognitive functioning, social measures of self-awareness and social skill were also important correlates of social vulnerability scores, indicating that social measures could also contribute useful information when assessing social vulnerability in older people. From an applied perspective, Chapter 5 of the thesis presents normative data for the SVS15, and an examination of the Tclinical utility of the scale using individual case studies of older adults diagnosed with a dementia syndrome. In Chapter 6, an amalgamation of the results from the project is presented, and the theoretical and clinical contributions of the findings are highlighted. TThe findings contribute to the extant literature in two ways: (1) through the development of aT potentially useful and psychometrically sound instrument which targets symptoms of social Tvulnerability more directly than existing neuropsychological measures and (2) by enhancing the current understanding of the cognitive and social personal competence factors associated with heightened vulnerability in later life.

In recent years it has become widely accepted that the natural systems on which we depend for survival are being degraded by human activity. It is no longer a question of if we need to reduce our impact upon the planet, but of the extent to which we need to change our behaviour, and how soon we need to act. Such change will depend upon the support of voters, governments, and the international community and will require wide spread changes in attitudes and behaviour. Using the social identity approach as a framework, the current programme of research focuses on rural land users in Australia and the effectiveness of sustainable land use campaigns directed at them from both urban and rural sources. The studies provide a novel contribution to the area by demonstrating the effects of intergroup threat on group-based communication, in particular, the perception of threat to rural identity and the effect on urban and rural messages aimed at changing land use behaviour. Conclusions about broader social influence processes were also made by assessing rural participants’ perceptions of the degree to which others are influenced. Although the studies are based in the context of rural Australian land users, the results and theoretical implications can be applied to any situation wherein one group is attempting to change the attitudes and behaviours of another group. This could range from local interest groups trying to convince each other of the merits of their ideas through to political parties and nations calling for united and decisive action on global issues. Such groups ignore issues of power and status at the risk of ineffective communications or even a backlash in opinion and behaviour. Six studies were conducted, including five survey studies with rural landholders and one experiment with students at a rural campus. Study 1 (N = 251) was an evaluation of sustainable land use campaigns in general, comparing those from urban sources to those from rural sources. Study 2 (N = 585) extended this by assessing the moderating role of intergroup threat perceptions. This study also measured the perceptions of influence of urban and rural messages on urban people and other rural people. Study 3 (N = 98) assessed the influence of an actual land use campaign delivered by an ingroup source on individuals’ attitudes and behaviours and the perceived influence on others. Study 4 (N = 249) built upon Study 2 but included additional measures to address some of the inconsistencies between Studies 1 and 2. To address the psychological underpinnings of group-based influence, Study 5 (N = 124) included measures of trust in urban and rural sources as well as reports of influence, agreement, and past behaviour. To conclude, Study 6 (N = 64) provided an experimental test of persuasion by manipulating the source of the message. Self-reported identification and intergroup threat were examined as moderators of group-based persuasion. Furthermore, attributions of constructiveness were explored as a possible reason for the superior influence of ingroups. Across the six studies it was found that ingroup messages were consistently more influential than outgroup messages. Attributions of trust and constructiveness helped to explain the superior influence of ingroups. In terms of perceptions of influence on others, there was a third-person effect for urban messages but rural people did not differentiate between themselves and other rural people in response to rural messages. Furthermore, rural identification was associated with greater reported influence from the ingroup source and perceived threat was associated with increased influence of rural messages compared to urban messages. These findings have clear implications for attempts at changing attitudes between groups, particularly where there is a salient and competitive intergroup context. Outgroups operate at a distinct disadvantage in delivering persuasive communications, especially if ingroup identification is high or there is a perception of threat stemming from the communicating group. Evidence of the persuasiveness of ingroups compared to outgroups is further strengthened by the perceptions of similarity in influence of rural sources for self and other ingroup members. The findings on trust and constructiveness hint at the possibility of overcoming barriers to outgroup persuasion if positive motives for the messages can be established. Of course, this depends on the severity of the intergroup context and the nature of communication. Recommendations are made for a collaborative approach to achieving change.

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Judgements of and sensitivity to style are ubiquitous. People become sensitive to the structural regularities of complex or “polymorphous” categories through exposure to individual examples, which allows them respond to new items that are of the same style as those previously experienced. This thesis investigates whether a dimension reduction mechanism could account for how people learn about the structure of complex categories. That is, whether through experience, people extract the primary dimensions of variation in a category and use these to analyse and categorise subsequent instances. We used Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) as the method of dimension reduction, which yields the main dimensions of variation of pixel-based stimuli (eigenvectors). We then tested whether a simple autoassociative network could learn to distinguish paintings by Picasso and Braque which were reconstructed from only these primary dimensions of variation. The network could correctly classify the stimuli, and its performance was optimal with reconstructions based on just the first few eigenvectors. Then we reconstructed the paintings using either just the first 10 (early reconstructions) or all 1,894 eigenvectors (full reconstructions), and asked human participants to categorise the images. We found that people could categorise the images with either the early or full reconstructions. Therefore, people could learn to distinguish category membership based on the reduced set of dimensions obtained from SVD. This suggests that a dimension reduction mechanism analogous to SVD may be operating when people learn about the structure and regularities in complex categories.

Sport and Traditions of Feminist Theory involves a philosophical examination of the opportunities that are offered to females who seek authority in sporting participation, by an examination of the ideas that emanate from various streams of feminist thought. Chapter One introduces the concepts of oppression and authority in sport for females. It also introduces Rortian pragmatism, and four strands of feminist thought which will be utilised throughout the thesis; liberal, standpoint, poststructural and Foucauldian feminism. Finally it briefly suggests the potentials for each of these feminisms to explain and alter the situation of women in sport. Chapter Two is an elaboration of Rortian liberalism. It explains the concepts of anti-foundationalism, the private-public split and the ideal liberal society. These ideas are then applied to an understanding of the opportunities for freedom in sport. Sport is viewed as a symbolic language medium where athletes have the opportunity to express their private freedom through idiosyncratic action. The chapter then goes on to address feminist concerns with Rortian pragmatism. It will be suggested that the female position in society forces a reformulation of Rortian pragmatism to include the possibility of collective expressions of freedom, and to recognise the systematic oppression of women in, and by, society. The female athlete must negotiate the unenviable position of performing in a practice that has a long history of male control over sporting discourses, and female exclusion from, or incorporation into, those sporting discourses. A feminist -reformed, Rortian pragmatism gives the female some tools with which to break down male control and produce individual and collective changes in the language; practice and theory of sport. Chapter Three is a selective history of feminist politics and female participation in sport. The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate that strong poetry; i.e. collective and individual language changes which increased the opportunity for females to speak with authority, were often the result of both contingent conditions in society, and the whims of the dominant class of males. Yet two important points should be made; firstly, within that limited area of freedom in both politics and sport, women did recreate themselves and their society, and secondly, the public discourse about female athleticism throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries suggests a genealogy of ideas which continues to limit female athletic participation and authority. It would be naïve to suggest that this history of ideas about female athleticism would be broken down simply by legislative change which allows for wider female participation in sport. Chapter Four investigates one mechanism of gaining authority for females in society and sport, the liberal intervention of equal opportunities. It has been suggested by radical and postmodern feminisms that such an intervention is inadequate because it leaves in place the structure of ideas that oppress females in the first place. Critiques of liberal feminist interventions in sport likewise suggest that such interventions maintain the maleness of reason in sport. Females are asked to participate and be judged in sports that have a male history and male structure of control. However, because Rortian pragmatism recognises that sport is a symbolic medium, liberal interventions should not be discarded. There are a number of sports which women either are not allowed to play or are discouraged from playing. The liberal intervention may allow women to participate in sport, and gain authority through their local and specific languages of participation. Chapter Five is an application of feminist standpoint theories to women's authority in sport. Feminist standpoints will be suggested as an important method for doubting the certainty of gendered truth statements in sport and society. The truth statements, which oppress women in sport reporting, and reinforce different modes of sport participation, will be deconstructed using feminist standpoint theories. Rortian pragmatism offers tools with which alternate candidates for truth status may be produced and disseminated throughout the sporting world. These alternatives may grant women greater authority in performing and talking about sports. Chapter Six will look at the postmodern and Foucauldian treatments of the female body as another mechanism of challenging the his-story about female athletes, which continues to limit both their participation in sports and their commentary about sports. It will be suggested that the fuzziness of the athletic body allows women all sorts of opportunities to challenge the maleness of authority in sport. One case study, which will be particularly investigated here, is the suggestion that women athletes could look at drugs as a mechanism for approaching the narrowly defined -by men- participation standards of male athletes. And as authority in sport is partially granted on the basis of objective sporting performance, females should view the drug ban as potentially a piece of phallocentric legislation designed to maintain male power. Other case studies that could be investigated at a later date are the suspicions about genetic engineering and virtual reality sport, and the distaste for female athletes aborting before sporting performance. Are these suspicions and distaste mechanisms of the control of the female athlete's performance which females should oppose? The final chapter summarises the opportunities that a reformed Rortian pragmatism, reformed by the female question, provides for females in sport. Sport as a bodily activity may offer some potentials and obstacles that are not present in theoretical activities like education and politics. This is not to imply a dualism, but simply to suggest that sport, like dance and theatre, is an activity where the body's movements and actions are symbolically communicative.

Within athletic domains, athletic identity is a cognitive structure guiding and organising how the person processes self-related information (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993). Being one of the domains of the self-concept, athletic identity is the “degree of importance, strength, and exclusivity attached to the athlete role that is maintained by the athletes and influenced by environment” (p. 39; Cieslak, 2005). Previous studies have shown that athletic identity is related to various psychological processes such as identity foreclosure and the emotional reactions of athletes to injuries (Grove, Lavallee, & Gordon, 1997). The Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS) is a 10-item quantitative inventory measuring the level of athletic identity (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993). Throughout the past decade, researchers have been examining the psychometric properties and factor structures of the AIMS with samples mainly from English-speaking societies (Brewer & Cornelius, 2001; Hale, James, & Stambulova, 1999). This thesis consisted of two studies. The first one investigated the internal consistency and factor structure of the AIMS within a Hong Kong Chinese sample by performing confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) and Cronbach’s alphas. The author constructed a Chinese version of the AIMS and administered it to 186 Hong Kong athletes. The CFAs showed that multi-dimensional models were better fits than the original unidimenional model. The goodness-of-fit indices of three previously suggested models (and one simplified model) were either above or extremely close to acceptable levels. Considering the possible cultural influences and translation processes, the findings are substantial. In this study, the author also discusses the cultural differences in terms of each factor and overall athletic identity scores. The second study followed up the results of the first study and further explored the construct of athletic identity through qualitative interviews. The author, who was also the interviewer, recruited 13 Hong Kong athletes for in-depth interviews exploring their life experiences of being athletes in Hong Kong. The results revealed that some contributing elements of the participants’ athletic identities seemed well represented by the AIMS items and factors, such as recognition from others (i.e., social identity), sport-related goals, dysphoric emotions associated with injury (i.e., negative affectivity), and perceived importance of sport (i.e., exclusivity). Some themes from the interviews, however, were not represented in the items or factors of the AIMS. For some participants, appearance and accoutrements, such as clothing and equipment, formed part of their overall athletic identities. Also, the author found that the participants’ fantasies about professional athletes were major features of the interviews. These results showed that various cultural characteristics in Hong Kong may influence the development of the participants’ self-identities including athletic identities. The author employed the theory of self-construals (Markus & Kitayama, 1991) and features of Hong Kong culture to explain the results. In the general discussion, the author also discussed the AIMS items, the factor structure, and their connections with Hong Kong athletes’ experiences, based on the qualitative findings. The author recommended some possible items for further development of the AIMS.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and develop a substantive theory, of the processes adopted by nurses and medical practitioners when patients with serious illness refuse medical treatment. The study seeks to identify the main constraints confronting nurses and medical practitioners and to explain the key factors that moderate the processes of dealing with refusal decisions. Using a grounded theory method, a sample of 18 nurses and 6 medical practitioners from two public hospitals in Melbourne were interviewed. In addition, observations and documentary evidence were utilised. The basic social psychological problem shared by nurses and medical practitioners is conceptualized as Competing Perspectives: Encountering Refusal of Treatment, which reflects the diverse perceptions and beliefs that confront participants when patients decide to forgo therapy. In utilizing the grounded theory method of analysis, it is recognised that participants deal with this problem through a basic social psychological process conceptualized as Endeavouring to Understand Refusal: Agreeing on a Way Forward. This core variable represents the manner in which participants, to varying extents, deal with the situations they face and it incorporates the various influences which moderate their activities. Endeavouring to Understand Refusal: Agreeing on a Way Forward comprises a series of three transitions. The first involves a struggle for participants to come to terms with, or even recognize that patients are rejecting treatment. The second transition illustrates the varied responses of participants as they interact with patients, relatives and each other, in order to clarify and validate decisions made during episodes of care. The third transition reflects the degree to which patients and family members are incorporated into treatment decisions, and highlights a shift in emphasis, from a focus on the disease state, to the patient as a person with individualistic thoughts and wishes. The remaining social processes evident in the study consist of four categories. The first, Seeking Clarification, embodies exploration undertaken by participants and their recognition that treatment is actually being refused. The second category, Responding to Patients and Families, demonstrates the level of expertise of participants communicating, and their ability to encourage reciprocity in the professional-patient relationship. The third category, Advocating, highlights the extent and manner in which patient and family wishes are promoted to members of the treating team. The fourth category, Influencing, reveals the ability of participants to utilize a degree of authority or power in order to shape particular outcomes. The findings also indicate that over arching the core variable and categories are various contextual determinants that moderate the way nurses and medical practitioners deal with patient refusal of treatment. These determinants are categorized into three main influences: The Context of Work, describes the of the environment and organisational factors pertinent to public hospitals; Beliefs and Behaviours, illustrates the perceptions of, and values held, by four key groups involved in decisions, namely, nurses, medical practitioners, patients, and family members; and Legal and Ethical Frameworks, examines the existing principles that support or guide professional practice in situations where patients with serious illness refuse medical treatment.