My principal research interest relates to how practices in society and organizations--from taxation policies to road signs--affect the health, wellbeing, and performance of individuals (e.g., Moss, Callanan, & Dowling, 2009; Moss & Wilson, 2010). This research offers insight into practices that revolve around leadership, engagement, resilience, decision making, government policy, integrity, tolerance, relationships, and health. For a list of my books and publications, see Appendices A and B.
First, whenever people experience a sense of purpose and meaning, they become more responsible, resilient, and rational. Some of my books, such as "Sustainable coaching" and "The negative side of positive thinking", outline the evidence of these propositions.
In particular, when individuals enjoy a sense of purpose and meaning, they tend to orient their attention to future needs and, therefore, resist immediate temptations. Consequently, impulsive behavior diminishes. Many societal problems that correspond to risk (Gullone, Moore, Moss, & Boyd, 2000), such as road accidents (Moss, Lenne, & Wilson, 2009), gambling (O'Hare, Phillips, & Moss, 2009), and criminal offences (Wileman, Gullone, & Moss, 2007) are likely to subside.
Furthermore, because they orient their attention to future needs, rather than immediate emotions, individuals who feel a sense of purpose and meaning embrace the unpleasant emotions--the uncertainty, the ambiguity, and the anxiety, for example--that growth and development entails. They become more resilient over time. This resilience, coupled with the decline in impulsive behaviors like smoking, substance abuse, and unhealthy eating, have been shown to diminish the incidence of many problems, including Alzheimer's Disease (Bahar-Fuchs, Moss, & Savage, 2010; Bahar-Fuchs, Rowe, Moss, & Savage, 2010; Bahar-Fuchs, Rowe, Moss, & Savage, 2011; Pike, Rowe, Moss, & Savage, 2008; Pike et al., 2007), PTSD (Davidson, Berah, & Moss, 2006; Davidson & Moss, 2006, 2008), autism (Rinehart, Bradshaw, Moss, Brereton, & Tongue, 2000, 2001, 2006; Williams, Moss, Bradshaw, & Rinehart, 2002), and OCD (Rankins, Bradshaw, Moss, & Georgiou-Karsitianis, 2004).
In addition, because they embrace uncertainty, ambiguity, and other negative emotions, people who feel a sense of purpose and meaning are not as susceptible to a raft of cognitive biases. Many of my studies were conducted to examine the origins and determinants of many prevailing biases and distortions in the auditory (e.g., Chambers Mattingley, & Moss, 2002, 2004a, 2004b, 2005) and visual (Williams, Moss, & Bradshaw, 2004; Williams, Moss, Bradshaw, & Mattingley, 2005) domains.
The second premise revolves around the source of this sense of purpose and meaning. In particular, when individuals perceive their environment as cooperative, their duties as unambiguous, the values of society as consistent over time, and their capabilities as distinct and extensive, they are more likely to experience this sense of purpose and meaning. These four conditions, outlined in my book "Where should I work?", will therefore increase the likelihood that people behave responsibly, exhibit resilience, and reach decisions rationally.
Many of my papers clarify the problems that unfold whenever these four conditions are impeded. Impediments may emanate from the work environment (Sohal, Moss, & Ng, 2000, 2001), the family (Spataro, Moss, & Wells, 2001; Spataro, Mullen, Burgess, Wells, & Moss, 2004), and the juxtaposition between work and family (Bardoel, Moss, Smyrnios, & Tharenou, 1999; Bardoel, Tharenou, & Moss, 1998). These problems include excessive workloads (Moss, Novatsis, & Kijowska, 2010) and steep family responsibilities (Reid, Moss, & Hyman, 2005).
The final premise revolves around an insidious obstacle to these determinants of purpose and meaning. Specifically, many of the interventions that foster one of these four determinants of purpose and meaning actually impede the other determinants of meaning. Consequently, as shown in my books "The moonlight effect" and "The science of management", many initiatives that seem to be effective are either unsustainable or provoke unintended complications.
Some of my research demonstrates that many entrenched practices, such as inspiring leadership styles (Moss, McFarland, Ngu, & Kijowska, 2007; Moss, 2009; Moss & Ngu. 2006; Moss & Ritossa, 2007; Moss, Ritossa, & Ng, 2006; Whitford & Moss, 2009), common performance management systems (Flaherty & Moss, 2007), total quality management (Millen, Sohal, & Moss, 1999; Sohal, Millen, Maggard, & Moss, 1999; Terziovski, Sohal, & Moss, 1999), and the prevailing corporate structures (Edwards, Ahmad, & Moss, 2002), foster some determinants of meaning but impede other determinants of meaning. Consequently, the complications of these trends are often overlooked.
Moss, S. A., & Francis, R. (2007). The science of management: Fighting fads and fallacies with evidence-based practices. Australian Academic Press.
Moss, S. A., Callanan, J., & Wilson, S. (2011). The moonlight effect. Tilde Press.
Moss, S. A. (2012). Where should I work? Tilde Press.
Fitzgerald, P., Moss, S. A., & Sarros, J. (2009). Sustainable coaching. Tilde Press.
Davidson. A., & Moss, S. A. (2010). The negative side of positive thinking. ARESTA
Moss, S. A., Callanan, J., & Dowling N. (2009). Towards an integrated model of leadership and self-regulation. Leadership Quarterly, 20, 162-176.
Moss, S. A. McFarland, J., Ngu, S. & Kijowska, A. (2007). Maintaining an open mind to closed individuals: The effect of leadership style and resource availability on the association between openness to experience and organizational commitment. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 259-275.
Chambers C., Mattingley, J. B., & Moss, S. A. (2002). The octave illusion revisited: Suppression or fusion between ears. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 28, 1288-1302.
Chambers C., Mattingley, J. B., & Moss, S. A. (2004). Reconsidering evidence for the suppression model of the octave illusion. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11, 642-666.
Williams, M., Moss, S. A., Bradshaw, J., Mattingley, J. (2005). "Look at me, I'm smiling: Visual search for threatening and non-threatening facial expressions Cognition, 12, 29-50.
Since 1996, I have collated over 5000 counterintuitive and unintuitive scientific discoveries, derived from a variety of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, management, physiology, and economics. This database was initialy applied to identify and to redress misconceptions in managers. In particular, these services were offered to a variety of organizations, including Alcoa, Telstra, and ANZ.
In 2000, these insights were utilized to construct the Ethogram, a psychometic instrument that uncovers all the traits and inclinations that job applicants attempt to conceal, such as the degree to which they tend to be prejudiced, dishonest, expedient, impulsive, disloyal, and unstable. To construct this scale, I collated all the questions that predict these outcomes but are not perceived as socially desirable. This instrument was utilized by many organizations and completed by over 20,000 job applicants.
In 2008, I constructed psychlopedia, an online encyclopedia that is dedicated to psychology. This website presented many of the counterintuitive and unintuitive discoveries I had collated, coupled with the latest advances in research methods, theory, practice, and solutions to solve mental health issues. I have contributed over 400 pages to this website to support individuals, practitioners, students, and academics.
At around the same time, I developed a theory that integrates most of the findings that were reported on this website, called the Model of Sustainable Strivings. This theory shows how changes in societal and organizational practices affect the mental health and performance of individuals and has been utilized, promulgated, and tested extensively.
Dissemination of the Model of Sustained StrivingsTo illustrate, I was invited to be a keynote speaker of several international and national conferences, including the Australasian Talent Conference in 2008 and 2010 as well as the Universities HR Benchmarking Conference in 2010. Likewise, I have been invited to present this theory at several international and national workshops, including the Australian Centre for Research in Employment and Work, InnoFuture, and the Accelerated Learning Laboratory.
In addition, I have disseminated some of the implications of this theory to various media outlets, including television programs (e.g., A Current Affair), radio stations (e.g., ABC, 3AW), and print (e.g., The Fairfax papers, industry magazines) as well as social media. Similarly, I have presented these theories and their implications in seminars that were organized by the College of Organizational Psychologists, SHL, Rotary, Australian Unity, DSTO, IBM, Right Management, Chandler and MacLeod, and other bodies.
Besides disseminating this theory, I have also been able to apply these insights to enhance mental health and performance in organizations. In particular, I founded Top of Mind, a forum of psychologists, designed to apply these insights to support human rights, social justice, and disadvantaged communities. At its peak, this forum comprised over 200 members and inspired policy changes in many government agencies and corporations. I have since applied the resources and insights of this forum to offer consulting services to many organizations, including Southern Health, VECCI, SES, ADF, NAB, and ANZ. In addition, I have presented some of these insights to influence the policies and practices of the Australian Labour Party.
More recently, I have encouraged other consultancies to apply some of the implications of this theory. These consultancies include both large firms, such as Ernst & Young and KPMG, as well as smaller firms, including Career Capital, Dynamic Wisdom, People Measures, and HCMS. I also provide personal coaching to many consultants in which I explain the utility of this theory.
Research grants and fundingFuthermore, I have received many government and industry grants to explore facets of this theory. In 2009, together with three other chief investigators, I was awarded an ARC linkage grant, entitled "Radicalisation, counter-radicalisation, and de-radicalisation: Developing a new understanding of terrorism in the Australian context". I was able to apply my theories to predict the community changes that are likely to stem terrorism. In 2010, together with four other chief investigators, I was awarded another ARC linkage grant, entitled "Development of psychological capital in emergency service organisations". Again, the model of sustained strivings was applied to predict which workplace policies are likely to enhance employee wellbeing and receptivity to change.
Likewise, I have received funds from Medibank, ANZ, and the ADF to examine several facets of this theory. The project with Medibank was intended to examine the workplace determinants of mental health. The project with ANZ examined the career progress of females, and the project with the Australian Defence Force explored predictors of resilience.
Finally, my involvement in research extends beyond the social determinants of mental health and performance. For over 10 years, I have provided services to students, academics, and professionals on research methods and statistics, such as advice on nonlinear dynamics, multilevel modeling, structural equation modeling, limited dependent variable models, and time series analyses. I continue to provide this advice to small consultancies and larger organizations, such as hospitals.
I have also been an active board member of several professional associations. These associations include the Victorian Branch of the Australian Psychological Society and the Victorian Branch of the College of Organisational Psychologists in addition to work in advocacy. In particular, I founded the Australian Honesty Forum, to assess and promote integrity in government and commerical organizations.
I have developed a variety of products including:
I also provides advice and consulting on several issues including:
I am a:
Moss, S. A., & Francis, R. (2007). Fads and fallacies in the name of management. Australian Academic Press.
O'Shea, R., MacKenzie, W., & Moss, S. A. (2007). Writing psychology reports: Thompson.
Fitzgerald, P., Moss, S. A., & Sarros, J. (2009). Sustainable coaching. Tilde Press.
Davidson. A., & Moss, S. A. (2010). The negative side of positive thinking. ARESTA.
Moss, S., & Fleming, A. (2010). Success at university: What they haven't told you. Tilde Press.
Moss, S. A., Callanan, J., & Wilson, S. (2011). The moonlight effect. Tilde Press.
Moss, S. A. (2012). Where should I work? Tilde Press.
Moss, S. A. (in press). Research Methods that are not an Utter Waste of Time. Tilde Press.
Moss, S. A. (in press). Business Writing and Other Enchanting Adventures. Tilde Press.
Addamo, P. K.., Farrow, M., Bradshaw, J. L., Moss, S. & Georgiou-Karistianis, N. (2010). The effect of attending to motor overflow on its voluntary inhibition in young and older adults. Brain and Cognition, 74, 358-364.
Bahar-Fuchs, A., Rowe, C., Moss, S., & Savage, G. (2010). Can I smell gas (or is it lilac)? Olfactory semantic deficits in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Chemosensory Perception, 3, 118-128.
Bahar-Fuchs, A., Moss, S., & Savage, G. (2010). Olfactory performance in AD, aMCI, and healthy ageing: A unirhinal approach. Chemical Senses, 35, 855.862.
Bahar-Fuchs, A., Rowe, C., Moss, S., & Savage, G. (2011) Awareness of olfactory deficits in healthy ageing, amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's Disease. International Psychogeriatrics, 23, 1097-1106. doi: 10.1017/S1041610210002371
Bardoel, E. A., Moss, S. A., Smyrnios, K., & Tharenou, P. (1999). Employee characteristics associated with the provision of work-family policies and programs. International Journal of Manpower, 20, 563-576.
Bardoel, E. A., Tharenou, P., & Moss, S. A. (1998). Organizational predictors of work-family practices. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 36, 31-49.
Bennington, L., & Moss, S. (2001). Self, peer and tutor assessments of oral presentations. International Journal of Management Literature, 1, 81-90.
Chambers C., Mattingley, J. B., & Moss, S. A. (2002). The octave illusion revisited: Suppression or fusion between ears. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 28, 1288-1302.
Chambers C., Mattingley, J. B., & Moss, S. A. (2004). Reconsidering evidence for the suppression model of the octave illusion. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11, 642-666.
Chambers C., Mattingley, J. B., & Moss, S. A. (2004). The suppression model remains unsound: A reply to Deutsch. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 11, 677-680.
Chambers C., Mattingley, J. B., & Moss, S. A. (2005). Does selective attention influence the octave illusion. Perception, 34, 217-229.
Davidson, A. C., & Moss, S. A. (2008). Examining the trauma disclosure of police officers to their partners and officers' subsequent adjustment. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 27, 51-70.
Davidson, A., Berah, E., & Moss, S. A. (2006). The relationship between the adjustment of Australian police officers and their partners. Psychology, Psychiatry, and Psychological Medicine, 13, 41-48.
Davidson, A., C. & Moss, S. A. (2006). The effect of marital adjustment on the association between police officers' traumatic distress and trauma disclosure. Canadian Journal of Police & Security Services, 4, 35-45.
Edwards, R., Ahmad, A., & Moss, S. (2002). Export roles of MNC subsidiaries: Implications for subsidiaries in Malaysia. Journal of Asian Business, 17, 1-13.
Edwards, R., & Moss, S. A. (2000). Negative country of origin events: The case of French nuclear tests. International Journal of Business Studies, 8, 23-36.
Flaherty, S., & Moss, S. A. (2007). The impact of personality and team context on the relationship between workplace injustice and counterproductive work behaviour. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37, 2549-2575.
Garivaldis, F. J., & Moss, S. A. (2007). The effect of familiar music on the perception of other individuals. Psychomusicology, 19, 13-31.
Gullone, E., Moore, S., Moss, S. A., & Boyd, C. (2000). The adolescent risk-taking questionnaire (ARQ): Development and psychometric evaluation. Journal of Adolescent Research, 15, 231-250.
Haslett, T., Moss, S. A., Osborne, C., & Ramm, P. (2000). Local rules and fitness landscapes: A catastrophe model. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, 4, 67-86.
Hocking, D. H., McGinley, J. L., Moss, S. A., Bradshaw, J. L., & Rinehart, N. J. (2010). Effects of external and internal cues on gait function in Williams syndrome. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 291, 57-63.
Hocking, D. R. Rinehart, N. J., McGinley, J. L., Galna, B., Moss, S. A., & Bradshaw, J. L. (2011). Gait adaptation during obstacle crossing reveals impairments in the visual control of locomotion in Williams syndrome. Neuroscience, 197, 320-329.
Millen, R., Sohal, A., & Moss, S. A. (1999). Quality management in the logistics function: An empirical study. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 16, 166-180.
Moss, S. A. (2002). The impact of environmental clues in problem solving and incubation: the moderating effect of ability. Creativity Research Journal, 14, 207-211.
Moss, S. A. (2009). Cultivating the regulatory focus of followers to amplify their sensitivity to transformational leadership. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 15, 241-259.
Moss, S. A. McFarland, J., Ngu, S. & Kijowska, A. (2007). Maintaining an open mind to closed individuals: The effect of leadership style and resource availability on the association between openness to experience and organizational commitment. Journal of Research in Personality, 41, 259-275.
Moss, S. A., & Duck, N. (in press). Psychological origins of workplace aggression: Fragility of self esteem and implicit theories of human malleability. Journal of Business and Psychology.
Moss, S. A., & Ngu. S. (2006). The relationship between personality and leadership preferences. Current Research in Social Psychology, 11, 70-91.
Moss, S. A., & Ritossa, D. (2007). The impact of goal orientation on the association between leadership style and follower performance, creativity, and work attitudes. Leadership, 3(4), 433-456.
Moss, S. A., & Wilson, S. (2010). Integrating the most unintuitive empirical observations of 2007 in the domain of personality and social psychology into a unified framework. New Ideas in Psychology, 28, 1-27.
Moss, S. A., Callanan, J., & Dowling N. (2009). Towards an integrated model of leadership and self regulation. Leadership Quarterly, 20, 162-176.
Moss, S. A., Garivaldis, F. J., &. Toukhsati, S. R. (2007). The perceived similarity of other individuals: The contaminating effects of familiarity and neuroticism. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 401-412.
Moss, S. A., Novatsis, E. K., & Kijowska, A. (2010). The insidious evolution of excessive workloads from the drive to enhance self-esteem: The role of personal control and self-construal. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 48, 5-25.
Moss, S. A., Ritossa, D. & Ng, S. (2006). The effect of employee regulatory focus and extraversion on the prevalence and consequence of leadership behaviors: The role of emotional intelligence. Journal of Individual Differences, 27, 93-107.
O'Shea, R., MacKenzie, W., & Moss, S. A. (2007). Writing psychology reports: Thompson.
Pike, K. E., Savage, G., Villemagne, V. L., Ng, S. Moss, S. A., Maruff, P. Mathis, P. A., Klunk, W. E., Masters, C. L. & Rowe, C. C. (2007). ?-amyloid imaging and memory in non-demented individuals: evidence for preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Brain, 130, 2837-2844.
Pike, K. E., Rowe, C. C., Moss, S. A., & Savage, G. (2008). Memory profiling with paired associate learning in Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, and healthy aging. Neuropsychology, 22, 718-728.
Rankins, D., Bradshaw, J., Moss, S. & Georgiou-Karsitianis, N. (2004). Inhibition of Return in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder . Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 10, 54-59.
Reid, C. E., Moss, S., & Hyman, G. (2005). Caregiver reciprocity: The effect of reciprocity, carer self-esteem and motivation on the experience of caregiver burden. Australian Journal of Psychology, 57, 186-196.
Rinehart, N. J., Bradshaw, J. L., Moss, S. A., Brereton, A. V., & Tongue, B. J. (2000). Atypical interference of local detail on global processing in high-functioning Autism and Asperger's disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 769-778.
Rinehart, N. J., Bradshaw, J. L., Moss, S. A., Brereton, A. V., & Tongue, B. J. (2001). A deficit in shifting attention present in high functioning autism but not Asperger's disorder. Autism, 5, 67-80.
Rinehart, N. J., Bradshaw, J. L., Moss, S., Brereton, A. V., Tongue, B. J. (2006). Pseuo-random number generation in autism and Asperger's disorder: A neuropsychological measure of repetitive and stereotypical behaviour. Autism, 10, 70-85.
Sohal, A. S., Millen, R., Maggard, M., & Moss, S. A. (1999). Quality in logistics: A comparison of practices between Australian and North American/European firms. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, 29, 267-280.
Sohal, A. S., Millen, R., & Moss, S. A. (2002). A comparison of the use of third-party logistics services by Australian firms between 1995 and 1999. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, 32, 59-68.
Sohal, A. S., Moss, S. A., & Ng, L. (2000). Using IT productively: Practices and factors that influence success. International Journal of Technology Management, 20, 340-353.
Sohal, A. S., Moss, S. A., & Ng, L. (2001). Comparing IT success in manufacturing and service industries. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 21, 30-45.
Spataro, J., Moss, S. A., & Wells, D. L. (2001). Child sexual abuse: A reality for both sexes. Australian Psychologist, 26, 177-183.
Spataro, J., Mullen, P. E., Burgess, P. M., Wells, D. L., & Moss, S. A. (2004). Impact of child sexual abuse on mental health: Prospective study in males and females. British Journal of Psychiatry, 184, 416-421.
Stolwyk, R., Charlton, J., Triggs, T., Moss, S. A., & Bradshaw, J. L. (2006). The effect of a concurrent task on driving performance in people with Parkinson's disease. Movement Disorders, 21, 2096-2100.
Terziovski, M., Sohal, A. S., Moss, S. A. (1999). Longitudinal analysis of quality management practices in Australian organizations, Total Quality Management, 10(6), 915-926.
Wileman, B., Gullone, E., & Moss, S. A. (2007). The juvenile persistent offender, primary group deficiency and persistent offending into adulthood: A prospective study (1980-2002). Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law, 14, 66-77.
Wileman, B., Gullone, E., & Moss, S. A. (2008). The juvenile persistent offender, primary group deficiency and persistent offending into adulthood: A Qualitative Analysis. Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law, 15, 56-69.
Williams, M., Moss, S. A., & Bradshaw, J. (2004). A unique look at face processing: The impact of masked faces on the processing of facial features. Cognition., 91, 155-172.
Williams, M. A., Moss, S. A., Bradshaw, J. L., & Rinehart, N. J. (2002). Random number generation in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 33, 43-47.
Williams, M., Moss, S. A., Bradshaw, J., & Mattingley, J. (2005). "Look at me, I'm smiling": Visual search for threatening and non-threatening facial expressions Cognition, 12, 29-50.
Wilson, K., Gullone, E., & Moss, S. A. (1998). The youth version of the positive and negative affect schedule: A psychometric validation. Behaviour Change, 15, 187-193.
Last Update: 7/3/2012