Research News

	It's official - a laugh a day makes employees stay
	Dissatisfaction with immigration grows
	How to deal with relationship conflict
	Neuromarketing research shows advertisers the way
	Australians willing to pay for a better public healthcare system
	Measuring the Universe with a fine tooth comb

It's official - a laugh a day makes employees stay

Having a good laugh at work can do wonders for a person’s job satisfaction, according to Swinburne researcher Maren Rawlings.

In a recent study, the psychologist found that individuals who use, and are surrounded by, positive humour in the workplace had higher levels of job satisfaction than those who don’t.

During the study Rawlings surveyed 300 workers from 20 different countries about their individual use of humour in the workplace, and how they perceived the humour used by their colleagues.

“I found that the more positive the humour climate was in a workplace, the greater the job satisfaction of employees,” said Rawlings. “In fact, personality and mood, combined with humour use, explained over 40 per cent of workers’ job satisfaction.”

According to Rawlings, previous research has also found a strong correlation between a worker’s job satisfaction and their level of productivity. Therefore her findings contradict a common misconception that people who enjoy themselves and make jokes in the workplace, are not as productive.

“People bemoan that there is no time for humour, and that being humorous is not appreciated,” she said.

“However there is a body of research out there that shows a strong association between job satisfaction and performance. So if humour makes people satisfied in their job, it should definitely be encouraged.”.

Dissatisfaction with immigration grows

Australians’ attitudes towards immigration are changing, according to Swinburne sociologist Katharine Betts.

In an article published in the People and Place journal, Betts describes how Australians’ dissatisfaction with immigration is growing, with many people believing our rates of immigration should be reduced.

Her report shows that between 2004 and 2007 the proportion of voters wanting to reduce our intake of immigrants rose from 34 per cent in 2004 to 46 per cent late last year.

From a conventional economic perspective these years were rosy, so it is unusual to see support for immigration decline so steeply in such circumstances. According to Betts’ “one possibility is that the immediate negative consequences of rapid population growth became evident to more people: rising house prices and rents, pressure to increase residential densities in previously low-density suburbs, increased congestion on the roads, pressure on hospitals and health services and overcrowding on public transport.”

These changes were felt most in Victoria: “This may be because, over the four-year period, Melbourne absorbed a greater proportion of Australia’s population growth than any other region,” said Betts.

Despite this growing electoral disquiet, the new Labor Government is increasing the immigration program to record levels. The total planned permanent intake for 2008-2009 stands at 203,800.

According to Betts’ report, the demographic trajectory that the new Government has committed itself to has minimal electoral support. “Urban congestion and declining housing affordability suggest that the disjunction between this policy and popular feeling may not be easy to ignore over the long term.

How to deal with relationship conflict

Research has found that people who have a high level of relationship security are more likely to compromise rather than avoid their problems to resolve conflict with their partner.

In a recent study, Swinburne doctoral student Sue Whelan found that the degree of security people feel with their partner may affect how they deal with conflict in relationships.

Whelan surveyed 101 heterosexual couples who were currently involved in marital style relationships for varying periods of time about how they resolved conflict, their degree of relationship security and marital satisfaction.

“Research has shown that individuals who are anxious and insecure in their attachment style, generally have less success in relationships,” said Whelan.

“This is because a person who is insecurely attached to their partner will tend to deal with conflict by either escalating passionate arguments to resolve their problems so they can remain in constant contact with their partners or by avoiding discussion of their problems.”

As a practicing marital psychologist, Whelan has found that common problem areas for distressed couples are conflict resolution and a lack of behaviour that helps each person in a couple to feel secure.

“This research can help couples understand what is causing the dynamic in their relationship,” said Whelan. “If each person could understand and lean a little closer to their partner’s conflict resolution style, they could begin to communicate a lot better and stop interpreting the other person’s way of dealing with conflict as a personal attack or simply problematic.”

Whelan was awarded best counselling-related thesis of 2007 by the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

Neuromarketing research shows advertisers the way

The world of advertising has changed considerably over recent years, with the emergence of neuromarketing – where researchers use neuroscience tools to measure peoples’ brain processes when viewing advertisements.

In a recent study, Swinburne’s Dr Joseph Ciorciari, a leader in this relatively young field, explored how personalty traits affect people’s reactions to advertising and consumer choices.

For the study, 42 volunteers undertook a range of personality orientation surveys as well as a psychological test to determine their Emotional Intelligence.

Using an electroencephalogram, Ciorciari then measured the way that each participants’ brain responded when viewing different advertisements. “We looked at brain activity maps and determined that there were different networks in the brain associated with different personality types,” he said.

Ciorciari believes companies should be paying attention to this new area of research, by targeting their advertising to appeal to consumers’ individual personalities.

He believes it is not enough for companies to simply know the demographics of their target audience. If they look at broad categories such as age and occupation, they won’t gain the same degree of understanding as they will if they determine what personality types find their products appealing. 

While Ciorciari doesn’t believe neuromarketing will replace traditional market research altogether, he does believe it acts as an important piece of the puzzle for advertisers.

“Neuromarketing shows advertisers that people with different personalities have different brain systems – which means they also have very different ways of looking at the world.

Australians willing to pay for a better public healthcare system

Most Australians are willing to pay higher taxes to provide quality healthcare for all Australians, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Swinburne researchers Dr Elizabeth Hardie and Dr Christine Critchley interviewed 800 Australians from every state and territory about their attitudes to doctors, hospitals and health care systems.

“Our data showed that there are very high levels of trust in Australian healthcare professionals, however Australians want a better public health care system,” Hardie said.

“Overwhelmingly our sample said they were willing to pay higher taxes to have an improved healthcare system that would provide quality healthcare for all Australians. They trust their doctors, they trust the Medicare system, but they really want to improve that system.”

The results showed that general practitioners were deemed more trustworthy than specialists or hospitals. Trust ratings for non-traditional practitioners were very low, however, these alternative practitioners were trusted more by women than by men.

Hardie said the respondents also endorsed the current health care system, and had fairly-weak ‘pro-private’ attitudes and strong ‘pro-public’ attitudes.

The sample had mixed views on hospitals and health care systems with greater trust in private hospitals than in public hospitals, but greater trust in public (Medicare) than private (health insurer) systems.

“Australians have faith in the system but believe that the system can be better. The public understands that professionals working within the system are doing the best they can with the resources they have.”

Measuring the Universe with a fine tooth comb

Using a Nobel Prize winning laser technique, an international team of researchers has vastly improved the precision of astronomy - it will even allow them to measure a star moving as slowly as a tortoise.

In an article published in Science, the researchers demonstrated how a 'laser frequency comb' could be used to calibrate an astronomical telescope. This will enable astronomers to measure the spectral features of distant stars and galaxies with extreme precision.

The laser frequency comb is considered an ideal reference point for scientists. It is a source of light emitted at a series of wavelengths, which are regularly spaced and known to extremely high accuracy because the whole laser system is controlled by an atomic clock. The technique has already revolutionised the way scientists take measurements in laboratories, however this is the first time it is has been used with an astronomical telescope - in this case to observe our own Sun.

Swinburne’s Dr Michael Murphy, who was on the research team, likens the frequency comb's teeth to the markers on a metre-long ruler.

"Previously, astronomers would have had a marker about every ten centimetres. And we didn't even know the exact position of those markers, so our measurements were a bit uncertain.

"When you use a frequency comb, it's like having instead a very fine density of markings - every millimetre in fact. We also know the exact location of those markers, just as accurately as we know the ticking rate of an atomic clock," he said. "So this really is a new standard of precision in astronomy."

Murphy expects the new technique will have a huge impact on astronomical research. It will enable astronomers to undertake new experiments, including the search for new planets similar to our Earth.

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