This paper addresses work at the intersection of meteorology and the psychology of curiosity andlearning (Bolton et al. 2020; Stewart et al. 2015, 2018). Specifically, we report on thedevelopment and validation of the first self-report measure of epistemic (i.e., information-based)weather curiosity. Two studies derived 11 items measuring general interest in learning aboutweather and curiosity for the science behind weather. Psychometric properties and implicationsof the scale for use by meteorologists, educators, and academic researchers are discussed.

Mental health is a topic of increasing interest and concern across the weather enterprise amidst a backdrop of funding cuts, extreme storms, and longer, more involved work hours. The present study therefore investigated wellbeing in the meteorological workplace. Participants (N= 389), professional meteorologists (n = 360) and professionally-employed meteorology students (n = 29), voluntarily participated in a Qualtrics-hosted online survey and responded to a number of measures representing a broad range of mental health variables. These individuals fell into three employment sectors: U.S. National Weather Service (NWS), Broadcast (television weather), and Other (a combination of academic, private sector, military, and non-NWS operational meteorologists). Individual differences emerged between meteorological sectors in personality and the subjective wellbeing domains of burnout, job satisfaction, and anxiety. Broadcasters were significantly more burnt-out at work and personally, were higher in extraversion, and were highest in anxiety. NWS meteorologists were most burnt-out in working with partners. The Other category of meteorologists showed more agreeableness and greater job satisfaction than broadcasters and those in the NWS. There was no cross-sector difference, however, in traits that might be relatively uniform among meteorologists: Grit, life satisfaction, self-concept clarity, subjective happiness, stress, and depression. Results are discussed in terms of consequences for meteorologists’ mental health and emotional wellbeing as well as the future of the field.

The socio-political landscape surrounding autism, a set of neurological conditions existing on a spectrum and marked by difficulties in socializing, narrow interests, repetitive behaviors, and sensory sensitivities, has seen the neurodiversity social movement emerge with the perspective that neurological conditions represent normative differences rather than abnormality. Despite the movement, however, autistic people (we use both identity- and person-first language in our work, to respect the multiple language perspectives of people on the spectrum) still struggle with overt stigmatization. The present study tested the prediction that perceived discrimination–the extent to which individuals are aware of others’ negative views of their own group–would be related to higher levels of internalized stigma (the incorporation of stereotypes about one’s group into one’s identity), broad social activism, and autism/disability-related advocacy. Results partially supported hypotheses: Perceived discrimination and internalized stigma were negatively correlated, r(80) = -.55, p < .001; and general social-issues advocacy was negatively correlated with self-reported importance of disability, r(80) = -.22, p < .05 and autism-specific activism, r(80) = -.32, p < .01. In support, however, perceived discrimination correlated positively with the importance of autism-specific activism, r(80) = .38, p < .01, and with importance of general disability advocacy, r(80) =.28, p < .05. Hence, autistic people who valued activism reported engaging less in broad social-issues advocacy, but more in disability- and autism-related advocacy, and tended to perceive discrimination but not to internalize stigma. Implications for the activist online autistic community and future population-specific scale development are discussed.

We conducted this study to test for an interaction of media effects and individual differences that could affect hurricane evacuation decision-making. Participants responded in an online, Qualtrics-hosted survey to many demographic and individual difference questionnaires assessing decisions one would make in a hurricane evacuation. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two video conditions (reporter emotionality: high or low) and asked a number of questions about the field-reporting meteorologist they viewed. We predicted an interaction between intuitive thinking (which is faster and more emotional) and emotional reporting such that highly intuitive thinkers would be more likely to evacuate when presented with more emotional hurricane field reporting. This hypothesis was rejected. However, there was a main effect of intuition, whereby highly intuitive people expressed more fear for weather (but not hurricanes). Furthermore, there was a main effect of media condition: People exposed to highly emotional field reporting in general were more likely to evacuate. These results are discussed in light of meteorological communication standards and principles.

Negative stereotypes and ostracism of those on the autism spectrum persist, with consequences for autistic people including fewer friendships and smaller social networks. Recent work in the area has found that diagnosis disclosure can have a positive effect on autistic peer perceptions and that non-autistic people often decide whether or not to maintain relations with autistic individuals based on initial thin slice judgements. Participants (N = 423) in this study were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (disclosure of autism diagnosis or no disclosure) and read a fictional vignette depicting a social interaction with someone displaying behaviors characteristic of autism. They then answered questions regarding their affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses to the character. Results indicate that non-autistic people show positive cognitions, but less positive behavior, towards those on the spectrum, and that participants with autistic friends (regardless of diagnosis disclosure) showed more negativity to the vignette character than those participants without such friends. Implications are discussed in light of situational factors that may be present within these relationships.