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Volume 8 Issue 3 (September 2018)
Announcement
 
BSI Director Professor David Chan has received the Medallion Award for Distinguished Service, presented by National Development Minister Lawrence Wong.
   
Professor David Chan has been reappointed for a second term on the Board of Directors for the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre.
 
BSI Outreach
 
The following are some BSI outreach activities that took place in July-September 2018.
 
  • At a symposium organised by the South East Community Development Council, Professor David Chan was an invited panellist where he discussed the art and science of finding solutions to helping families in crisis.
 
  • At the CleanEnviro Summit Singapore 2018 organised in conjunction with the World Cities Summit and the International Water Week, Professor David Chan delivered an invited address on applying behavioural sciences to clean environment solutions.
 
Upcoming BSI Seminars
 
  • 2 October 2018
    A Sociocultural Psychological Analysis of Antecedents of Pro-Environmental Support
    Seminar by Kimin Eom
    Assistant Professor of Psychology, SMU
 
  • 23 October 2018
    Physiological Influence in Cross-Class Dyadic Interaction
    Seminar by Jacinth Tan
    Assistant Professor of Psychology, SMU
 
Highlights of Recent BSI Seminars
 
4 September 2018
Andree Hartanto, Lecturer of Psychology, SMU, presented a seminar titled “Culture Moderates the Role of Perceived Obligation in Influencing Inflammation and Cardiovascular Risk: Evidence for Culturally Distinct Pathways to Achieving Positive Health Outcomes”. He discussed the role of culture in the link between obligations and health.
     
11 September 2018
Angela Leung, Associate Professor of Psychology, SMU, presented a seminar titled “Boosting Creativity with a Paradox Mindset: For Whom and How?”. She discussed how the effects of a paradox mindset on creativity through conflict may be negatively influenced by adopting a middle-ground approach.
     
18 September 2018
Kenneth Tan, Assistant Professor of Psychology, SMU, presented a seminar titled “Seeking and Ensuring Interdependence: Desiring Commitment and the Strategic Initiation and Maintenance of Close Relationships”. He discussed the links connecting commitment desirability and relationship stability.
     
25 September 2018
Tsai Ming-Hong, Assistant Professor of Psychology, SMU, presented a seminar titled “When and Why do We Fail to Cooperate Under Conflict?”. He discussed how the effect of opinion difference on accommodation of dissenting opinions may be influenced by an individual’s decision-making style.
     
Insights from Behavioural Sciences
 
In this regular section on Insights from Behavioural Sciences, we feature an invited commentary where Professor David Chan discussed issues of liveability in Singapore. He explained the need to go beyond global survey findings on liveability to understand people's expectations, evaluations and experiences as they interact with their physical, cultural, social and political living environments. The article was published in The Straits Times on 15 September 2018. [Link]
 
Applications from Behavioural Sciences
 
In this regular section on Applications from Behavioural Sciences, we feature a research study commissioned by Tsao Foundation, led by BSI Director Professor David Chan and SMU Professor of Finance Benedict Koh. The study examined the effectiveness of a matched savings scheme involving 377 lower-income older women over an 18-month period. The findings showed that the scheme is effective in encouraging savings behaviour, and how its effectiveness can be increased by considering the amount saved, the matching ratio and how the match is framed and communicated to the participants. A summary of the technical details of the study is available here [Link]. The study was reported in the The Straits Times [Link] and Lianhe Zaobao [Link].
 

About BSI
 

The Behavioural Sciences Institute (BSI) is a multi-disciplinary research institute for creating, disseminating and applying scientific knowledge about human behaviours in various social, organisational and cultural settings. For more information on BSI, please refer to our website. Should you have any further enquiries, do contact us with the email or phone contact details provided below.

 
:http://bsi.smu.edu.sg
:bsi@smu.edu.sg
:+65 6828 0300