A New Journal and a New Collaboration

This journal has been a long time coming. When Julie Garlen andmyself began the Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative (CSSC)we talked about creating a journal as an extension of the Collaborative.But, we were both early in our careers and it felt overwhelming to takeon such a project. So, it was put on hold. The idea came back up a fewyears ago when Marla Morris joined the planning council of the CSSC.She argued, convincingly, that it was necessary to have more outletsfor Curriculum scholars to publish their work. Attaching the journalto the Collaborative was a natural fit. We discussed what it might looklike and worked together to get the journal started

Seminar on Narcotics Problems in Developing Countries in Africa

While most African countries have no real cause for alarm concerning narcotic drug addiction and illicit trafficking, the possibilities for the future in such a huge and rapidly changing area call for the utmost vigilance. Only in this way can the tragedy of large-scale addiction which has afflicted other wide regions of the world be avoided. Urbanisation, internal migration, and detribalisation are factors which might well sow the seeds of future trouble. The United Nations therefore organised this regional seminar, the first of its kind in Africa, as part of its programme of technical assistance in narcotics contro

THREE INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE DYNAMICS AND IMPLICATIONS OF IDENTITY-PROTECTIVE COGNITION FOR PUBLIC RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

In the case of responding to climate change and related environmental problems, opinions about the best course of action have become starkly polarized along ideological lines. The identity-protective cognition thesis posits that when individuals experience a sense of challenge to these identities, they are motivated to engage in cognitive shortcuts and other reasoning processes to protect these identities against threat. In this research, I discuss three investigations into identity-protective cognition in the context of responding to environmental problems, applying the broader identity-protective cognition framework to a diverse set of theoretical and practical questions. Chapter 2 highlights research exploring the effect of motivated reasoning on responses to natural disasters linked with climate change. Chapter 3 looks at how brand and environmental identities influence responses to corporate environmental scandals that are personally relevant and require individual-level action. Chapter 4 extends this research paradigm by exploring public responses to visual imagery used to depict climate change across three countries, while also examining how identity-protective processes shape these responses. In addition to the theoretical and practical contributions for environmental engagement, explicit emphasis is placed on the use of full Bayesian inference for quantitative environmental decision making research. Implications for theory, methodology, and practice are considered

Secondhand Communication of Risk-Related Information: How Ideology and Relational Motives affect Interpersonal Risk Communication

This research provides the first experimental investigation of the ways in which ideological and relational motives influence interpersonal risk communication. Drawing on the literatures in social and cognitive psychology, risk communication, and environmental decision making, this research examined whether individuals expressing concerns about tradeoffs between climate change adaptation and prevention were less likely to share climate change information with others if the information discussed adaptation policies. Participants were presented with an article about climate change framed as either relating to adaptation or prevention. Their willingness to share the article with others was measured, as well as their appraisals of how they thought others would respond to the message (e.g., increase or decrease their environmental behavior) and how others would evaluate oneself for sharing the message. Concerns about tradeoffs and sensitivity to social rejection were measured prior to the experimental procedure. Results yielded partial support for the hypotheses, with concern about tradeoffs negatively influencing attitudes toward sharing of the adaptation-related article. Hypothesized interaction effects with concerns about social rejection were not supported. Exploratory analyses revealed that the perception that others in one’s social network holds similar or dissimilar views to oneself about climate change emerged as an important moderator of the effects of concern about tradeoffs on sharing intentions. Limitations and future directions for research on interpersonal risk communication are discussed