USYD Meta Lab

This research focuses on emotional self-awareness and regulation. We investigate how individuals monitor and become aware of their emotions, examining the reciprocal relationship between emotion and metacognition. A key area of interest is how people develop metacognitive beliefs about their feelings, such as feeling certain about a specific emotional state or believing that a particular action will definitely generate a desired emotional response.

Efficacy beliefs are judgments about the perceived effectiveness of one's actions. These beliefs significantly influence behaviour by shaping expectations and decision-making. For example, an individual who believes themselves to be an excellent driver might engage in riskier driving behaviours, while someone who perceives themselves as poor at mathematics could be discouraged from pursuing an engineering degree. Our research in this area explores the complex processes of how efficacy beliefs are formed, the mechanisms behind their changes, and why these beliefs often diverge from objective reality.

This research stream investigates the relationship between confidence and decision-making, with a primary focus on improving calibration. Miscalibration can have important implications: overconfidence might lead to inadequate risk preparation, while underconfidence could result in missed opportunities, such as avoiding a potentially profitable investment. Our research explores how confidence impacts decision quality, develops interventions to enhance decision-making calibration, and examines the consequences of miscalibration.