Papers by Mirella L Stroink
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 2020
As the proportion of people living in urban areas continues to grow (United Nations et al., 2019)... more As the proportion of people living in urban areas continues to grow (United Nations et al., 2019), it becomes increasingly important to understand urban resilience in the face of both chronic and acute, endogenous, and exogenous stressors. Indeed, there is a growing literature on urban resilience, which includes several recent frameworks to operationalize and assess the concept and its indicators. Inherent in this literature, though rarely explicitly, is the psychology of the people comprising urban environments. The purpose of this paper is to explore the intersection of urban resilience and psychological resilience by viewing both in the context of complex adaptive systems theory. Arising from this juncture is a more robust and dynamic understanding of resilience, a psycho-social-ecological resilience. The discussion will draw from this notion of resilience a more thorough framework for understanding the reciprocal relationships among urban dwelling people and their total environments. Areas for future research and implications for our understandings of psychological resilience, urban resilience, and sustainable cities will be highlighted.
Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2018
Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationshi... more Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static "snapshots." '-Peter Senge. The current research examined the psychological construct of systems thinking alongside other established psychological constructs of intelligence, personality, cognitive complexity and creativity to distinguish systems thinking as an independent psychological construct. Across two studies, results suggest that, while systems thinking may overlap with some of these constructs, notably intelligence and cognitive complexity, these constructs did not fully explain obtained variance in systems thinking scores and suggest that systems thinking may indeed be a distinct, perhaps foundational, psychological construct that may exist as an individual difference dimension. This exploratory study discusses the theoretical implications of systems thinking as well as further psychometric validation of the Systems Thinking Scale.
Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2015
Many of the greatest challenges in society have emerged as a result of humans acting within compl... more Many of the greatest challenges in society have emerged as a result of humans acting within complex systems without fully understanding how they work. To address this problem, scholars from diverse fields have appealed to systems thinking. To date, a psychological perspective has been conspicuously absent from scholarship on this topic—a gap that the present paper seeks to fill by situating an individual difference measure of systems thinking in relation to well-studied constructs (e.g. holistic and relational thinking) and decision-making tasks in the psychological literature. Results indicate that the measure of systems thinking captures peoples' tendency to represent and reason about complex systems. The paper helps to validate a novel measure of an individual's tendency to engage in systems thinking and to provide a conceptual foundation for the thinking about the psychological underpinning of a systems thinking mindset. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
During this time of heightened awareness of issues related to sustainable development, there has ... more During this time of heightened awareness of issues related to sustainable development, there has been an explosion and advancement in communication and computer technologies. Merging the study of sustainable development in rural North America with technological innovation is the subject of this chapter. The authors discuss the evolution in education from traditional teaching environments and approaches, to interactive student and instructor learnings via computers and the Internet. The chapter reviews the authors' experience in a synchronous e-learning course on rural sustainability over a large geographic area, including the technology and technological challenges, working with diverse cultures, languages and academic disciplines, benefits and lessons learned.
Population and Environment, 2011
Little is known about how environmental concern in young adulthood may shape childbearing attitud... more Little is known about how environmental concern in young adulthood may shape childbearing attitudes and intentions. Here, we examine the relationship between individual environmental concern, fertility intentions, and attitudes toward reproduction in a sample of Canadian university students, N = 139. General environmental concern and pollution-related health concerns both predicted a less positive attitude toward having children. Further, attitude toward having children mediated the negative relationship between pollution-related health concerns and personal fertility intentions. This study offers an important early step in empirical examination of the association between environmental concern and fertility. Keywords Fertility Á Environmental concern Á Family planning Á New ecological paradigm (NEP) Á Reproduction If green parenting web sites, organic applesauce, and reusable diapers are any indication, eco mommies are on the rise. But so are women who say that even baby feet leave a major carbon footprint. And they are opting not to have children as a result (Zeveloff 2010, p. 1).
Page 1. The Learning Garden: Place-based Learning for Holistic First Nations' Community Heal... more Page 1. The Learning Garden: Place-based Learning for Holistic First Nations' Community Health Mirella L. Stroink, Connie H. Nelson and Brian McLaren, Lakehead University March 2010 Page 2. The Learning Garden 2 This ...
Nourishing Communities, 2017
Using the lens of complex adaptive systems theory, we review the emergence of the local food move... more Using the lens of complex adaptive systems theory, we review the emergence of the local food movement within the broader systems of the industrial approach to food and in the unique context of northern Ontario. We argue that this systems thinking perspective reveals potential pathways to supporting transformative change and food system resilience. Crowdsourcing, a form of distributed problem solving, is reviewed as a potential tool for enhancing both engagement and innovation when tackling complex problems. Crowdfunding, an online approach for leveraging financial support from a broad group of people, is reviewed as a unique tool for supporting local initiatives while also enhancing engagement. These approaches are explored through two case studies. Recommendations for future work with these tools are provided. We conclude by discussing the value of the systems thinking perspective for both understanding complex problems in the food system context and identifying innovative solutions.
Journal of Rural and Community Development, 2012
The health and sustainability of rural and remote communities is undermined by the international ... more The health and sustainability of rural and remote communities is undermined by the international market-based food system. In the reality of these communities the cost of store-bought food is high, the nutritional quality low, and the availability tenuous. Furthermore, homogenization of the market-based food system undermines the diversity and ecological relevance of residents' food knowledge, and thus their resilience and capacity to innovate. Development of a local food system that emerges organically from the unique human and ecological setting encourages the utilization of both locally sourced and market-based food that may strengthen the autonomy and economic vitality of these communities. We will present findings from three research projects with First Nation communities in Northern Ontario. The aim of this research was to understand local and market-based food behaviour from the perspective of community members. Relationships were examined among food behaviour, food knowl...
The Northern Review, 2019
Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, 2019
Broadly described, the social economy refers to a series of initiatives with common values repres... more Broadly described, the social economy refers to a series of initiatives with common values representing explicit social objectives. The roots of social economy organizations predate the neoliberal economy and are integral to the human condition of coming together in mutual support to address challenges that benefit from collective efforts. Drawing on a complexity science approach, this paper analyzes four case studies situated in Northwestern Ontario—blueberry foraging, Cloverbelt Local Food Co-op, Willow Springs Creative Centre and Bearskin Lake First Nations—to demonstrate key features of social economy of food systems. Their unifying feature is a strong focus on local food as a means to deliver social, economic and environmental benefits for communities. Their distinct approaches demonstrate the importance of context in the emergence of the social economy of food initiatives. In the discussion section, we explore how these case study initiatives re-spatialize and re-socialize con...
International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 2010
This study aims to further investigate the convergent validity of the recently-proposed metaperso... more This study aims to further investigate the convergent validity of the recently-proposed metapersonal model and measure of self-construal, and to emphasize the discriminant validity of the metapersonal self-construal as a distinct construct, capturing a unique aspect of self-construal separate from either interdependent or independent aspects. The study looked at two questions: (1) Does the metapersonal self-construal predict higher emotional intelligence? (2) Do those who have higher metapersonal self-construal scores also report greater well-being? A group of 212 undergraduate students was assessed using a self-construal scale that includes the new measure of metapersonal self-construal, along with scales measuring emotional intelligence and well-being. The metapersonal self-construal predicted higher emotional intelligence scores and greater well-being than either the independent or interdependent self-construals.
Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2017
Systems thinking is a cognitive style involving an implicit tendency to perceive the socialecolog... more Systems thinking is a cognitive style involving an implicit tendency to perceive the socialecological world as a multitude of interconnected complex adaptive systems. Previous research has shown that systems thinkers value and care for entities that transcend the self, such as other human beings and nature, signalling a more expansive self-concept. Similarly, individuals high in empathy have an inclusive self-concept, a stronger proenvironmental identity and value entities beyond themselves. The present study examined the hypothesis that systems thinking would share a positive relation with components of cognitive and affective empathy. Results from an online survey of 135 undergraduate students demonstrated that systems thinking shared significant positive correlations with perspective taking, empathic concern and fantasy. However, only perspective taking and empathic concern emerged as unique significant positive predictors of systems thinking. Results suggest that systems thinkers express an elevated capacity for the allocentric components of cognitive and affective empathy.
PsycTESTS Dataset, 2007
This research adds a third model and measure of self-construal to the current psychological liter... more This research adds a third model and measure of self-construal to the current psychological literature: the metapersonal self-construal. This model extends previous theory and research, which has established two self-construal orientations to date: the independent and interdependent self-construal. The research presents a series of studies investigating the theoretical and psychometric properties of the third model and measure. Study 1 produced a valid and reliable 10-item self-report scale of the metapersonal self. Study 2 determined the scale to be low in social desirability bias. Studies 3 and 4 examined the convergent and discriminant validity of the three self-construal scales. Investigations among several variables showed that three unique but related self-construal constructs exist and evidence supports the theoretical underpinnings of each construct.
Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2015
The goal of the present research was to examine the relationship between the cognitive paradigm s... more The goal of the present research was to examine the relationship between the cognitive paradigm systems thinking and an ecologically informed worldview, specifically the New Ecological Paradigm. One hundred and fifteen psychology undergraduate students completed an online questionnaire assessing systems thinking, ecological worldview, environmental value-orientation, connectivity to nature, and environmental behaviors. Results demonstrated that systems thinkers possess a stronger ecological worldview and sense of connectivity with nature, harbour biospheric environmental values, and engage in more pro-environmental behaviors than those scoring low on systems thinking. Furthermore, it was found that systems thinking both uniquely predicted and was predicted by the New Ecological Paradigm. Moreover, results demonstrated that systems thinkers are better able to acknowledge 'system membership' and possess a greater understanding of the characteristics of complex ecological systems and their mutual influence on social-economic domains.
Environmental dilemmas are complex, multifaceted phenomena that affect not only ecological system... more Environmental dilemmas are complex, multifaceted phenomena that affect not only ecological systems, but also implicate social and economic domains as well (Holland 2001; Walker & Salt, 2006). It was proposed that in order to understand how environmental degradation impacts social-economic spheres of society, one must be able to perceive themselves as members of these complex systems and be able to acknowledge their many interrelationships. The construct of systems thinking was proposed as a means of measuring this perceptual capacity. Systems thinking constitutes a mental model and involves an implicit tendency to recognize phenomena as a constellation of interconnected parts that comprise a cohesive whole (Randle & Stroink, 2012). The goal of the present research was to delineate the relationship between a pro-environmental worldview, specifically the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP), and systems thinking. 115 psychology undergraduate students from a mid-sized university in northern O...
The goal of the present research was to examine the relationship between Grit—the capacity to sus... more The goal of the present research was to examine the relationship between Grit—the capacity to sustain interest in and allocate effort toward long-term objectives (Duckworth et al., 2007)—, attitudes toward infidelity, and sociosexual orientation (i.e., sociosexuality)—how restricted or unrestricted an individual’s sexual attitudes and behaviours are (Simpson & Gangestad, 1991). Past research has indicated that heterosexual women find ambition and industry (i.e., hard-working, productive, diligent) desirable qualities in both long-term and short-term relational contexts. Ambitious men tend to attain higher occupational status (Lund et al., 2007) and thus have greater resource acquisition potential (Buss & Schmitt, 1993). Despite its desirability for both mating-contexts, ambition seems to be more important in terms of a long-term relationship (Wilbur & Campbell, 2010). Typically, researchers assessing ambition ask participants to rate how desirable this trait would be in both a short...
Abstract The health and sustainability of rural and remote communities is undermined by the inter... more Abstract The health and sustainability of rural and remote communities is undermined by the international market-based food system. In the reality of these communities the cost of store-bought food is high, the nutritional quality low, and the availability tenuous. Furthermore, homogenization of the market-based food system undermines the diversity and ecological relevance of residents’ food knowledge, and thus their resilience and capacity to innovate. Development of a local food system that emerges organically from the unique human and ecological setting encourages the utilization of both locally sourced and market-based food that may strengthen the autonomy and economic vitality of these communities. We will present findings from three research projects with First Nation communities in Northern Ontario. The aim of this research was to understand local and market-based food behaviour from the perspective of community members. Relationships were examined among food behaviour, food ...
Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 2014
There is a tension between enhancing vulnerable people's access to local nutritious food and ensu... more There is a tension between enhancing vulnerable people's access to local nutritious food and ensuring viable incomes for local farmers. This tension arises as a result of interactions and processes scaling outward to the broad level of economic and political ideologies (Ikerd, 2005; 2012). We suggest that by conceiving of this tension as a wicked problem and employing complex adaptive systems theory, we create space in which community members are empowered to share existing knowledge and develop new knowledge as they innovate potential solutions and discuss constructive change. We introduce this space as the beginnings of a dialogue-driven, shared journey through four features of the back loop of the adaptive cycle. Drawing on this theoretical foundation as well as Block's (2009) structure for creating a community of belonging, we hosted two one-half-day-long events for 90 community members, including farmers, foodinsecure people, government representatives, and public agencies. This bottom-up, emergent approach to developing new system patterns may ultimately transform the domain of the problem and present viable alternative futures, which then may be adapted to the local reality and enhance community well being.
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Papers by Mirella L Stroink