Racism in Singapore: a review and recommendations for future research

Racism refers to ‘the differential treatment enacted by an individual, group, or organization on individuals based on assumptions of a group's phenotypic, linguistic, or cultural differences’ (Gamst, Liang, & Der-Karabetian, 2011, p. 251). Currently, there is a lack of psychological research investigating racism in Singapore. The available research, narrative reviews, qualitative studies, and quantitative studies have yielded limited and inconclusive results. These researches are critically evaluated to provide four recommendations for a psychological research agenda: (a) develop a reliable and valid instrument to assess racism, (b) conduct experimental research to examine racism perpetuated by the majority or institutions, (c) examine the negative effects of racism, and (d) develop and evaluate interventions for racism

Mortality salience in an offline and online setting

The current study aims to examine the effects of mortality salience effects on worldview defense in an offline and online setting. Participants were 146 (66 offline and 80 online) Singaporeans. Participants were randomly assigned to either the mortality salience condition or the control condition and after a delay completed a Worldview Defense Assessment. No significant mortality salience effects on worldview defense occurred in either setting. The results might be explained by the Asian sample, Singapore's culture of tolerance, and data collection during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Future research directions include examining the effects of COVID-19 in activating worldview defense

The Impact of Nature Imagery and Mystery on Attention Restoration

The factors contributing to urbanization, such as population growth and the development of mega-cities, have increased environmental stressors on top of everyday stressors, resulting in information overload. This has led to the increasing incidence of direct attentional fatigue, which causes stress and mental fatigue. The attention restoration theory centres on the environment’s capacity to restore attentional deficits and suggests that there are certain qualities in the environment that restore attention, which leads to improvements in our physical, mental, and social well-being. An environment can be restorative through the activation of involuntary attention, which limits the need for directed attention. This study explored for effects of natural, built, and mixed environment types and levels of mystery on attention restoration in university undergraduates. Perceived and actual levels of attention restoration were measured using a perceived restoration scale (PRS) and the digit symbol substitution task (DSST), respectively. A total of 101 participants viewed a restorative image followed by the completion of the DSST and the PRS for each of the 18 images depicting different environments. Actual attention restoration was measured by latency values in the DSST instead of through both speed and error rates due to some operational issues with the DSST which interfered with the full achievement of the study’s aims. There was an effect of different environments and mystery on perceived attention restoration. However, there appeared to be no effect on actual attention restoration, indicating a disconnect between perceived and actual restoration. Further research is required to confirm the specific effects of natural and built environments and mystery on attention restoration

Evidence of method effects in the authoritarianism-conservatism-traditionalism scales

Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) is notoriously complex, multifaceted, and difficult to measure as a psychological construct. Recently, Duckitt et al. developed the ACT scales, offering theoretical refinement of the RWA construct. Although the validity of the ACT scales had been supported by a considerable body of research, shortcomings in previous analyses cannot rule out the existence of possible method effects. In the present research, we sought to test for the presence of such effects in a representative community sample of adults in Singapore (N = 738). We re-evaluated the factor structure of the ACT scales by assessing four separate models using an item-based approach in our confirmatory factor analyses. Results found significant method effects associated with both the pro-trait and con-trait items in the ACT scales. The implications of these results and possible strategies for controlling method effects in the ACT scales are discussed

Understanding pandemic behaviours in Singapore – Application of the Terror Management Health Model

The novel coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, was first reported in China in December 2019 and became a global crisis by March 2020. Both adaptive and maladaptive behaviours were observed in response to aspects of the crisis, some of which appeared to be contradictory to coping and curbing the threat of COVID-19. For instance, the purchase and use of surgical masks and sanitisers could be understood as logical health-oriented behaviours relevant to coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. The breaching of social distancing measures and forwarding unverified news, however, might have done more harm than good. In applying the proximal and distal defences proposed within the Terror Management Health Model (TMHM), this article suggests explanations for these behaviours as individuals’ attempts to alleviate anxiety arising from reminders of their mortality. Information from local newspapers and media is used to highlight and identify common behaviours observed in the pandemic, and the TMHM is applied to explain these behaviours. This paper briefly concludes with a call for empirical validation of the TMHM for the behaviours observed in relation to COVID-19, and for the use of TMHM conceptualisations to develop countermeasures to reduce maladaptive behaviours in the current, and future, pandemics in Singapore

Terror Management: The Effects of Mortality Salience on Desire for Money Among Singaporeans

Terror management theory has been used to explain our penchant for materialism. While materialism includes both the desire for products and the desire for money, research has generally examined the former. Consequently, this article aimed to examine the effects of mortality salience on desire for money in Singapore. Study 1 found that mortality salience did not increase self-reported desire for money but increased the size of a drawn coin. Study 2 found that mortality salience did not increase the preferred selling price of a used laptop. Finally, Study 3 found that mortality salience did not increase the willingness to listen to unpleasant sounds in exchange for money. Furthermore, attitudes toward money did not moderate the effects of mortality salience on desire for money. The nonsignificant results could be due to data collection during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the use of a Singaporean sample. Future research directions include examining the effects of the pandemic on terror management theory research and examining both the desire for products and the desire for money concurrently as dependent variables

Smartphone application in postgraduate clinical psychology training: trainees’ perspectives

M-learning refers to the learning that takes advantage of mobile technologies. Although research shows enhanced educational outcomes from m-learning in some Asian countries, the generalizability to postgraduate clinical psychology training in Singapore remains unclear. Current professional standards in clinical psychology training emphasize the importance of attainment of clinical competencies in trainees. Although learning theories indicated potential for m-learning to be incorporated into the local clinical psychology curriculum, trainees’ perspectives have not been adequately explored on m-learning. The study aimed to address this gap by exploring the use of m-learning via a novel smartphone application in clinical psychology training using mixed-methods design. Eight clinical psychology trainees between the ages of 26 to 43 years old (mean age of 31.75, SD = 5.49) enrolled in a relevant coursework subject were recruited. Participants were randomly allocated to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group accessed the novel application weekly, from week 1 to week 6, and participants in the control group accessed the application after week 6. Participants from both groups completed a brief demographic questionnaire, and the following scales New General Self-Efficacy Scale adapted for Education (NGSES-E) and self-reported scale of learning outcomes (SLO). The qualitative study explored how participants perceived and experienced the novel application. Participants from the experimental group were invited to provide open-ended responses about the novel application. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results from the qualitative analysis yielded four themes of: Convenience, preferred learning style, building confidence, and putting theory into practice. Findings from the qualitative study were consistent with previous studies about advantages of m-learning: That the e-platform was convenient, the learning style was engaging, which helped to build confidence, and facilitate practical learning of skills. The qualitative results were helpful in understanding the users’ perspectives and experience of the novel application, indicating that future research in this innovative area is necessary. However, the quantitative outcomes were not significant, limitations would be discussed, and recommendations made for future research

Health-related quality of life in pediatric patients with leukemia in Singapore: a cross-sectional pilot study

There has been a paradigm shift in health service delivery to a more holistic approach, which considers Quality of Life (QoL) and overall functioning. Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is a multidimensional construct that encompasses physical functioning as well as psychosocial aspects of emotional and social functioning. This study explored factors related to HRQoL in Asian pediatric patients with leukemia in Singapore. The available variables included: age, treatment duration, household income, gender, ethnicity, religion, diagnosis, and phase of treatment. It is hypothesized that the relationships will be significant. In the current study, there were 60 patients (60% males) with leukemia; their ages ranged from 1 to 21 years (Mean = 8.03, Standard Deviation = 4.55). The hypothesis was partially supported. Age had a significant positive relationship with physical functioning, r(60) = 0.28, p < 0.05, physical health, r(60) = 0.28, p < 0.05, and the total HRQoL score, r(60) = 0.29, p < 0.05. Treatment duration had a positive relationship with school functioning, r(60) = 0.28, p < 0.05. All other correlations were statistically non-significant. The effects of the available psychosocial variables of gender, ethnicity, and religion were examined on scores from the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Ethnicity had a significant effect on social functioning, U = 292.00, p < 0.05, r = 0.3 (medium effect size). Specifically, Chinese (Median = 85.00, n = 33) had significantly higher scores on social functioning than others (Median = 70.00, n = 27). The remaining comparisons were statistically non-significant. The current findings added to QoL research, and provided an impetus for more research in the area of HRQoL for children with leukemia in Singapore

An absence of attentional bias: statistics anxiety is unique among anxieties

The first purpose of the project was to examine the internal consistency and structure of the English version of the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale (STARS). Participants were 202 (79% females) psychology undergraduates at James Cook University. Participants completed the STARS, the Statistical Anxiety Scale, and the Attitudes toward Statistics scale. Acceptable internal consistency reliabilities, ranging from .81 to .94, were found in this sample. Approximate fit indices suggest that a correlated six first-order factor model best describes the data in contrast to theoretical considerations suggesting that a six factor model with two correlated superordinate factors (i.e. statistics anxiety and attitudes toward statistics) best describes the data. The second purpose of the project was to examine the role of attentional bias in statistics anxiety in three experiments. Participants were 94 (73% females), 99 (68% females), and 104 (67% females) psychology undergraduates at James Cook University, respectively. These participants had either never taken a statistics course before but expected to enrol in one in the future, were currently enrolled in a statistics course, or had successfully completed at least one statistics course but were not currently enrolled in a statistics course. Participants completed the emotional Stroop task and the dot probe task, the STARS, the Social Desirability Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. No statistically significant differences were found across the experiments, indicating an absence of attentional bias in statistics anxiety. Implications include a reconsideration of the cognitive mechanisms underlying statistics anxiety. Specifically, individuals with statistics anxiety might be interpreting danger based on the absence of safety indicators instead of the presence of danger indicators. Alternatively, another form of cognitive bias, such as an interpretation bias might underlie statistics anxiety. Future research should be conducted to compare the plausibility of these two explanations

A meta-analytic review of Internet gaming disorder and the Big Five personality factors

Two systematic reviews have been conducted to summarize the literature on Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and personality. However, the data was not synthesized statistically, imposing a limit to their conclusions. The current study aimed to extend on the two reviews by conducting a series of five meta-analyses, one for each of the Big Five personality factors, to examine their relationships with IGD. A comprehensive search was conducted on the databases PsycArticles, PsycInfo, and Web of Science from inception to 29 July 2021. The data was analyzed using Meta-Essentials and the random effects model was used to obtain the pooled estimate of the effect size. A total of 12 articles were included (n = 145 to 3389). IGD was not significantly correlated with openness to experience (r = -0.05). However, IGD was negatively correlated with conscientiousness (r = -0.29), extraversion (r = -0.15), and agreeableness (r = -0.17), and positively correlated with neuroticism (r = 0.20). Age moderated the relationships between IGD and openness to experience and conscientiousness. The results were broadly consistent with the DSM-5 IGD criteria and the Big Five personality framework. Future research directions might include examining age as moderator variables, and using appropriate instruments based on the DSM-5 IGD criteria