Associate Professor Rebecca Olson
Associate Professor
School of Social Science
+61 7 336 53493
Researcher biography
Dr Rebecca E. Olson is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology in the School of Social Science at the University of Queensland. Dr Olson's research focuses on the sociology of health and illness, cancer and end-of-life care, interprofessional education and practice in healthcare, and the sociology of emotion and affect. She is currently Co-Director of UQ's SocioHealthLab. From 2013-2016 she was an Associate Editor of the Journal of Sociology and Co-Convenor of the Australian Sociological Association's Sociology of Emotions and Affect thematic group. She has published widely in the areas of healthcare, interprofessional education, cancer and informal care, and has a particular interest in advancing innovative, video-based methods to study emotions in social life. Her sole-authored book, "Towards a Sociology of Cancer Caregiving: Time to Feel" (Ashgate 2015), was supported by a collaborative grant from Cancer Australia and Cancer Council ACT. Her most recent book, "Emotions in Late Modernity" (Routledge, 2019, edited by Patulny, Bellocchi, Olson, Khorana, McKenzie & Peterie) explores the thesis that the social experience of emotions are changing in a contemporary landscape characterised by rapid change and digitally-mediated communication.
Publications
Book
Olson, Rebecca E. (2015). Towards a sociology of cancer caregiving: time to feel. Surrey, United Kingdom: Ashgate.
Book Chapters
Olson, Rebecca E., Mutch, Allyson, Fitzgerald, Lisa and Hickey, Sophie (2021). The social and cultural determinants of health. Culture, Diversity and Health in Australia: Towards Culturally Safe Health Care. (pp. 15-35) Taylor and Francis.
Patulny, Roger, Olson, Rebecca E., Khorana, Sukhmani, McKenzie, Jordan, Bellocchi, Alberto and Peterie, Michelle (2019). Conclusion: emotions in late modernity. Emotions in late modernity. (pp. 327-328) edited by Roger Patulny, Alberto Bellocchi, Rebecca E. Olson, Sukhmani Khorana, Jordan McKenzie and Michelle Peterie. Abingdon, Oxon & New York: Routledge.
Patulny, Roger, Olson, Rebecca E., Khorana, Sukhmani, McKenzie, Jordan, Bellocchi, Alberto and Peterie, Michelle (2019). Introduction. Emotions in late modernity. (pp. 1-7) edited by Roger Patulny, Alberto Bellocchi, Rebecca E. Olson, Sukhmani Khorana, Jordan McKenzie and Michelle Peterie. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Patulny, Roger and Olson, Rebecca E. (2019). Emotions in late modernity. Emotions in late modernity. (pp. 8-24) edited by Roger Patulny, Alberto Bellocchi, Rebecca E. Olson, Sukhmani Khorana, Jordan McKenzie and Michelle Peterie. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Olson, Rebecca E. and Dadich, Ann (2019). Power, (com)passion and trust in interprofessional healthcare. Emotions in late modernity. (pp. 267-281) edited by Roger Patulny, Alberto Bellocchi, Rebecca E. Olson, Sukhmani Khorana, Jordan McKenzie and Michelle Peterie. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Bellocchi, Alberto, Mills, Kathy, Olson, Rebecca, Patulny, Roger and Mckenzie, Jordan (2018). Emotion work at the frontline of STEM teaching. Critical issues and bold visions for science education. (pp. 247-264) edited by Lynn A. Bryan and Kenneth Tobin. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. doi: 10.1163/9789004389663_014
Olson, Rebecca E. (2016). Public health: Historical and contemporary principles and practices. Public Health: Local and Global Perspectives. (pp. 25-44) edited by Pranee Liamputtong. Port Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Cambridge University Press.
Olson, Rebecca E. and Abeysinghe, Sudeepa (2014). None of the above: Uncertainty and diagnosis. Social Issues in Diagnosis: An Introduction for Students and Clinicians. (pp. 47-60) edited by Annemarie Goldstein Jutel and Kevin Dew. Baltimore, MD United States: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Journal Articles
Hoffmann, Heidi, Olson, Rebecca, Perales, Francisco and Baxter, Janeen (2020). New mothers and social support: a mixed method study of young mothers in Australia. Journal of Sociology, 144078332097870. doi: 10.1177/1440783320978706
Mescouto, Karime, Olson, Rebecca E., Hodges, Paul W. and Setchell, Jenny (2020). A critical review of the biopsychosocial model of low back pain care: time for a new approach?. Disability and Rehabilitation, 1-15. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2020.1851783
Olson, Rebecca E., Smith, Alexandra, Good, Phillip, Neate, Emily, Hughes, Cody and Hardy, Janet (2020). Emotionally reflexive labour in end-of-life communication. Social Science and Medicine 112928, 1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112928
Patulny, Roger, Mills, Kathy A, Olson, Rebecca E, Bellocchi, Alberto and McKenzie, Jordan (2020). The emotional trade-off between meaningful and precarious work in new economies. Journal of Sociology, 56 (3), 144078332093415-355. doi: 10.1177/1440783320934156
Olson, Rebecca E., Bellocchi, Alberto and Dadich, Ann (2020). A post-paradigmatic approach to analysing emotions in social life. Emotions and Society, 2 (2), 157-178. doi: 10.1332/263169020x15893854268688
Bullivant, Bianca, Denham, Aaron R., Stephens, Clare, Olson, Rebecca E., Mitchison, Deborah, Gill, Timothy, Maguire, Sarah, Latner, Janet D., Hay, Phillipa, Rodgers, Bryan, Stevenson, Richard J., Touyz, Stephen and Mond, Jonathan M. (2019). Elucidating knowledge and beliefs about obesity and eating disorders among key stakeholders: paving the way for an integrated approach to health promotion. BMC Public Health, 19 (1) 1681, 1681. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-7971-y
Patulny, Roger, Bellocchi, Alberto, Mills, Kathy A., McKenzie, Jordan and Olson, Rebecca E. (2019). Happy, Stressed, and Angry: A National Study of Teachers’ Emotions and Their Management. Emotions: History, Culture, Society, 3 (2), 223-244. doi: 10.1163/2208522x-02010058
McKenzie, Jordan, Olson, Rebecca, Patulny, Roger and Peterie, Michelle (2019). Social emotions: a multidisciplinary approach. Emotions: History, Culture, Society, 3 (2), 187-201. doi: 10.1163/2208522x-02010056
Bellocchi, Alberto, Davis, James P., Olson, Rebecca E. and Appanna, Subhashni D. (2019). Understanding social bonds during science inquiry using V-Note software. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 14 (3), 769-796. doi: 10.1007/s11422-019-09940-z
Olson, Rebecca E., McKenzie, Jordan, Mills, Kathy A., Patulny, Roger, Bellocchi, Alberto and Caristo, Fiona (2019). Gendered emotion management and teacher outcomes in secondary school teaching: A review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 128-144. doi: 10.1016/j.tate.2019.01.010
Olson, Rebecca E. (2019). Book Review: Amy Chandler, Self-injury, medicine and society: authentic bodies. Journal of Sociology, 55 (2), 413-415. doi: 10.1177/1440783319829317
McKenzie, Jordan, Olson, Rebecca E., Patulny, Roger, Bellocchi, Alberto and Mills, Kathy A. (2019). Emotion management and solidarity in the workplace: a call for a new research agenda. Sociological Review, 67 (3), 672-688. doi: 10.1177/0038026118822982
White, Rhiannon Lee, Parker, Philip D., Lubans, David R., MacMillan, Freya, Olson, Rebecca, Astell-Burt, Thomas and Lonsdale, Chris (2018). Domain-specific physical activity and affective wellbeing among adolescents: an observational study of the moderating roles of autonomous and controlled motivation. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 15 (1) 87, 87. doi: 10.1186/s12966-018-0722-0
Olson, Rebecca E. and Cook, Peta S. (2018). Genomics: the clinical encounter and parallels across complementary and personalized medicine. Sociology Compass, 12 (9) e12621, e12621. doi: 10.1111/soc4.12621
Underwood, Mair and Olson, Rebecca (2018). ‘Manly tears exploded from my eyes, lets feel together brahs’: Emotion and masculinity within an online body building community. Journal of Sociology, 55 (1), 144078331876661-107. doi: 10.1177/1440783318766610
White, Rhiannon Lee, Olson, Rebecca, Parker, Philip D., Astell-Burt, Thomas and Lonsdale, Chris (2018). A qualitative investigation of the perceived influence of adolescents' motivation on relationships between domain-specific physical activity and positive and negative affect. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 14, 113-120. doi: 10.1016/j.mhpa.2018.03.002
Olson, Rebecca E., McKenzie, Jordan J. and Patulny, Roger (2017). The sociology of emotions: A meta-reflexive review of a theoretical tradition in flux. Journal of Sociology, 53 (4), 800-818. doi: 10.1177/1440783317744112
Olson, Rebecca, Laidlaw, Penelope and Steel, Kylie (2017). ‘No one wants to be taught from a textbook!’: pre-service health and physical education teachers’ reflections on skill acquisition and a new curriculum. European Physical Education Review, 23 (4), 1-18. doi: 10.1177/1356336X16658222
Olson, Rebecca E. and Brosnan, Caragh (2017). Examining interprofessional education through the lens of interdisciplinarity: power, knowledge and new ontological subjects. Minerva, 55 (3), 1-21. doi: 10.1007/s11024-017-9316-2
Olson, Rebecca, Bidewell, John, Dune, Tinashe and Lessey, Nkosi (2016). Developing cultural competence through self-reflection in interprofessional education: findings from an Australian university. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 30 (3), 347-354. doi: 10.3109/13561820.2016.1144583
Yaser, Anisa, Slewa-Younan, Shameran, Smith, Caroline A., Olson, Rebecca E., Uribe Guajardo, Maria Gabriela and Mond, Jonathan (2016). Beliefs and knowledge about post-traumatic stress disorder amongst resettled Afghan refugees in Australia. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 10 (1) 31, 31.1-31.9. doi: 10.1186/s13033-016-0065-7
Olson, Rebecca and Burns, Edgar (2016). Teaching sociology to public health students: consumption as a reflective learning tool. Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal, 17 (1), 71-83. doi: 10.11157/fohpe.v17i1.123
Kraft, Katarina P., Steel, Kylie A., Macmillan, Freya, Olson, Rebecca and Merom, Dafna (2015). Why few older adults participate in complex motor skills: a qualitative study of older adults’ perceptions of difficult and challenge. BMC Public Health, 15 (1) 2501, 1186-1197. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-2501-z
Olson, Rebecca E. (2015). How would an egalitarian health care system operate? Power and conflict in interprofessional education. Medical Education, 49 (4), 353-354. doi: 10.1111/medu.12686
Olson, Rebecca E., Godbold, Natalya and Patulny, Roger (2015). Introduction: Methodological innovations in the sociology of emotions part two - methods. Emotion Review, 7 (2), 143-144. doi: 10.1177/1754073914555276
Olson, Rebecca E. (2015). Exploring identity in the 'figured worlds' of cancer caregiving and marriage in Australia. Health and Social Care in the Community, 23 (2), 171-179. doi: 10.1111/hsc.12132
Olson, Rebecca E., Klupp, Nerida and Astell-Burt, Thomas (2015). Reimagining health professional socialisation: an interactionist study of interprofessional education. Health Sociology Review, 25 (1), 92-107. doi: 10.1080/14461242.2015.1101702
Patulny, Roger, Godbold, Natalya and Olson, Rebecca E. (2015). Introduction: Embracing emotional research - methodological challenges in the sociology of emotions. Emotion Review, 7 (1), 47-48. doi: 10.1177/1754073914546073
Fitzpatrick, Petya and Olson, Rebecca E. (2015). A rough road map to reflexivity in qualitative research into emotions. Emotion Review, 7 (1), 49-54. doi: 10.1177/1754073914544710
Olson, Rebecca E. (2014). Indefinite loss: The experiences of carers of a spouse with cancer. European Journal of Cancer Care, 23 (4), 553-561. doi: 10.1111/ecc.12175
Olson, Rebecca E. and Bialocerkowski, Andrea (2014). Interprofessional education in allied health: A systematic review. Medical Education, 48 (3), 236-246. doi: 10.1111/medu.12290
Olson, Rebecca E. (2014). A time-sovereignty approach to understanding carers of cancer patients' experiences and support preferences. European Journal of Cancer Care, 23 (2), 239-248. doi: 10.1111/ecc.12121
Olson, Rebecca E. and Connor, James (2014). When they don't die: Prognosis ambiguity, role conflict and emotion work in cancer caregiving. Journal of Sociology, 51 (4), 857-871. doi: 10.1177/1440783314544996
Prosser, Brenton and Olson, Rebecca E. (2013). Changes in professional human care work: The case of nurse practitioners in Australia. Health Sociology Review, 22 (4), 422-432. doi: 10.5172/hesr.2013.22.4.422
Olson, Rebecca E. (2012). Is cancer care dependant on informal carers?. Australian Health Review, 36 (3), 254-257. doi: 10.1071/AH11086
Olson, Rebecca E. (2011). Managing hope, denial or temporal anomie? Informal cancer carers' accounts of spouses' cancer diagnoses. Social Science and Medicine, 73 (6), 904-911. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.12.026
Conference Papers
Olson, Rebecca E. (2018). Undisciplining: post-paradigmatic analysis of emotions in social life. The Australian Sociological Association Conference: Precarity, Rights and Resistance, Melbourne, Australia, 19-22 November 2018.
Copley, Jodie, Hill, Anne, Olson, Rebecca, Bartle, Emma, Dunwoodie, Ruth, Zuber, Alice and Barnett, Tessa (2018). The VOTIS – developing a video observation tool for assessment of inter-professional skills. Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Education (ANZAHPE) Conference, Hobart, TAS, Tasmania, 1-4 July 2018.
Dadich, Ann and Olson, Rebecca E. (2017). How and why emotions matter in interprofessional healthcare. Olney, United Kingdom: Inderscience Publishers. doi: 10.1504/IJWOE.2017.083799
Raymond, Stephanie and Olson, Rebecca E. (2017). Reflexivity2: fostering research reflexivity in university students studying group work as a group. The Australian Sociological Association Conference: Belonging in a Mobile World, Perth, WA, Australia, 27-30 November 2017.
Bartle, Emma, Hill, Anne, Olson, Rebecca, Copley, Jodie, Dunwoodie, Ruth, Zuber, Alice and Barnett, Tessa (2017). Building capacity for the development of interprofessional skills in undergraduate dental curricula. International Association for Dental Research (IADR) Australia and New Zealand Conference, Adelaide, SA, Australia, 25-27 September 2017.
Olson, Rebecca and Tannous, Caterina (2015). Students’ perceptions of eMarking: Grademark vs. iAnnotate.. Student Transitions Achievement Retention Success (STARS) conference, Melbourne, Australia, 1-4 July, 2015.
Olson, Rebecca E. (2015). Interprofessional education: status, emotions and power. The Australian Sociological Association Conference: Neoliberalism and Contemporary Challenges for the Asia-Pacific, Cairns, QLD, Australia, 23-26 November 2015.
Olson, Rebecca E., Burton, Anthony, Byron, Paul and Turnbull, Margo (2014). Exploratory comparison of providing formative assessment feedback in three different modes: Hardcopy, desktop and tablet. 17th International First Year in Higher Education Conference, Darwin, NT Australia, 6-9 July 2014.
Dadich, Ann and Olson, Rebecca E. (2014). Interprofessional practice in healthcare: A POSH approach. ACSPRI Social Science Methodology Conference ACSPRI Social Science Methodology Conference 2014, University of Sydney, Australia, 7-10 December 2014.
Olson, Rebecca E. and Prosser, Brenton (2012). Human care work and emotion: A call to re-examine theory. The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) Conference, University of Queensland St Lucia Campus, 26-29 November 2012. Brisbane, QLD Australia: The University of Queensland School of Social Science and Institute for Social Science Research.
Olson, Rebecca E. (2010). Relying on carers at home and in the hospital. The Australian Sociological Association (TASA) Conference, Macquarie University, NSW, December 2010. Hawthorn, VIC Australia: The Australian Sociological Association.
Working Paper
Hoffmann, Heidi, Olson, Rebecca E., Perales, Francisco and Baxter, Janeen (2019). “Everyone My Age Doesn’t Know What It’s Like”: A Mixed-Method Study of Young Mothers and Social Support in Australia. LCC Working Paper Series. 2019-14. Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland.
Newspaper Articles
Patulny, Roger, McKenzie, Jordan, Bower, Marlee and Olson, Rebecca E. (2020, April 27). Reconnecting after coronavirus - 4 key ways cities can counter anxiety and loneliness. The Conversation, .
Sophie Lewis, Karen Willis and Rebecca E. Olson (2019, 03 15). If you’ve got private health insurance, the choice to use it in a public hospital is your own The Conversation
Raymond, Stephanie and Olson, Rebecca E. (2016, 06 16). Is this injectable tanning drug safe to use? The Conversation
Research Reports
Olson, Rebecca, Kent, Michelle and Klupp, Nerida (2013). Research Report to Health Education & Training Institute (HETI) on UWS’s NSW ICTN local project fund. Sydney, Australia: