Applying Positive Psychology to Mental Wellness and Flourishing in Singapore

Instructions

Instructrions
1. This End-of-Course Assessment paper contains ONE (1) question and comprises NINE (9) pages (including cover page).
2. You are to include the following particulars in your submission: Course Code, Title of the ECA, SUSS PI No., Your Name, and Submission Date.
3. Ensure that you submit your End-of-Course Assessment by the deadline. After the 12-hour grace period, 10% of the total End-of-Course Assessment mark will be deducted for each 24-hour block or part thereof by which your submission is late. Submissions with more than 50 marks deducted will be awarded 0 marks.
4. You are allowed multiple submissions to Turnitin before the deadline. After the deadline, only one submission is allowed, and only if you have not already made a prior submission.
5. If you fail to submit your End-of-Course Assessment, you will be deemed to have withdrawn from the course. 

Submission
You are to submit the end-of-course assignment (ECA) in exactly the same manner as your tutor-marked assignments (TMA), i.e. using Canvas. Submission in any other manner such as hardcopy or any other means will not be accepted. Ensure that you submit your ECA by the deadline. After the 12-hour grace period, 10% of the total ECA mark will be deducted for every 24-hour block or part thereof by which your submission is late. Submissions with more than 50 marks deducted will be awarded 0 marks. You are allowed multiple submissions to Turnitin before the deadline, after which only one submission is allowed, and only if you have not already previously submitted. If you fail to submit your ECA, you will be deemed to have withdrawn from the course.

You are reminded that electronic transmission is not always immediate. It is possible that network traffic may be particularly heavy on the cut-off date, and connections to the system cannot be guaranteed. Hence, you are advised to submit your work no later than the day /before the cut-off date in order to make sure that the submission is accepted and in good time. Once you have submitted your ECA, the status is displayed on the computer screen. You will receive a digital acknowledgement message. Please note that it is the digital time-stamp and not the acknowledgement message—that indicates that you have submitted your ECA. To ensure a timely submission and to have your ECAs marked, you should therefore not jeopardise your course result by submitting your ECA at the last minute.

Submission

Do ensure that you have the correct files for submission. Any submission, extra files, missing appendices or corrections received separately after the submission of the ECA will not be considered in the grading of your ECA assignment. 

Plagiarism and Collusion
The University takes a very serious view of plagiarism (passing off someone else’s ideas as your own, or recycling of contents from your own earlier marked TMA from the same course or another course) and collusion (submitting an assignment which is the same or very similar to another student’s). Both are forms of cheating, and neither is acceptable in any form in a student’s work, including this ECA assignment. 

Avoid plagiarism by giving yourself sufficient time to research and understand the material so that you can write up your assignment in your own words, and ensure that you provide appropriate references when necessary. You can avoid collusion by ensuring that your submission is based on your own individual effort. 

Penalties for plagiarism and collusion are severe. Serious cases will normally result in the student being referred to SUSS’s Student Disciplinary Group. For other cases, significant marking penalties or expulsion from the course may be imposed. For more information about the University’s policies on plagiarism and collusion, refer to the Student Handbook (Section 5.2, paragraph 1.3). 

Academic Report Assignment
Answer Parts A and B of this ECA (Total 100 marks).
There are two parts to this End of Course Assessment (ECA). Part A is 90 marks and Part B is 10 marks This ECA is 100% of the Overall Examinable Component (OES).

Please submit ONE file for your ECA:
1) ECA Cover Page and Academic Report in ONE MS Word File Only to the submission link entitled “ECA”
All files must be uploaded by 8 November 2021, Monday, 12:00 Noon. Resubmission is allowed before this cut-off time.

Essential Information for Review

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can make a contribution to her or his community". This definition emphasises that mental health is more than the absence of mental illness (Gilmour, 2014). 

The podcast discussed the stigma of mental health in Singapore. The speakers examined the influence of social media on the social perception of mental health. The panel acknowledged the growing awareness and conversations on mental health, especially among younger Singaporeans who are more comfortable in admitting that they may be suffering from a mental illness. The panel also discussed how we create space to engage the different touchpoints on mental health at the workplace. 

Plagiarism and Collusion

According to the Singapore Mental Health Study, 13.9% of Singaporeans and permanent residents have experienced anxiety, mood or alcohol abuse disorder in their lifetime (The State of Mental Wellness in Singapore, n.d.). Ong et al. (2020) categorised stigma into two themes, (1) public stigma (i.e., negative beliefs and attitudes, social exclusion, overscrutinising, and receiving excessive care and concern) and (2) structural stigma (i.e., the requirement to declare psychiatric conditions during job interviews, excluded from consideration after the declaration, and requirement of medical endorsements for employment). 

Academic Report Question
Apply relevant positive psychology theories and principles to appraise the importance of mental wellness and flourishing in Singapore.

Your discussion should:
1. Evaluate the concept of "life above zero".
2. Analyse the stigma surrounding mental well-being in Singapore.
3. Demonstrate how social media can positively influence the perception of mental wellbeing of Singaporeans.
4. Use Seligman’s concept of “Positive Health” to propose ONE mental wellness habit in physical, psychological and social resources, respectively (i.e., three habits in total), that can improve your subjective well-being.
5. Informed by empirical evidence, examine ONE positive coping style that you can use to deal with challenges you may face in your workplace.

Mental Habits of Happiness: Social Connections
Happy people spend more time with others and have a richer set of social connections than unhappy people. Even the simple act of talking to a stranger on the street can boost our mood more than we expect. This week, do two things:
1. Try to make one new social connection. It can be a small 5-minute conversation with someone on public transportation, asking a foreign worker about his/her day, or even chatting to the barista.
2. Try committing a whole hour to connect with someone you care about.

Reflection Question
Evaluate your emotions. Reflect and apply what you have learnt from the exercise on social connections to your mental health and well-being.

Identifying Relevant Material For this assignment, students must evaluate the state of mental wellness in Singapore, the stigma attached to mental health issues, the role of social media and the availability of support resources to help people access early intervention strategies. There is also a reflective component on the importance of social connections. You should read widely and beyond the textbook in order to add depth to your study. Reference to relevant research studies and examples will attract more marks. The information in the textbook is limited, so you are advised to go beyond the textbook and course material to search for relevant information and incorporate this into your assignment.

Preparation Plan
Performing well for an ECA will require substantial time and effort to plan and write your report. In your planning, please allocate time for:
• Reading the ECA question carefully and understanding the sub-components and instructions.
• Identifying, locating, and gathering relevant information.
• Drawing up a plan of action on how to go about writing the essay.
• Evaluating and integrating all the information and presenting it in a systematic and organised manner.
• Drafting, correcting, and eventually submitting your report.

Writing up your report
To answer the question fully, you are required to include the following sections in your report:
a) Title (< 10 words)
This statement should let your reader know which area of psychology is under investigation and provide a basic idea of what the report is about. The title should
highlight the essence of the academic report in less than 10 words. 

b) Introduction (300 words)
This section should review the podcast and relevant literature in a structured and logical manner. You should provide a summary of relevant extant literature in this section and briefly explain the rationale for keeping the academic report grounded in the context of Singapore.

c) Discussion (500 words)
The discussion should clearly appraise the extant literature and analyse how this information is relevant to Singapore’s context. Other points that can be included in this section are,

(1) the general implications that can be drawn from this academic report,

(2) whether there were any unexpected findings unique to the Singapore context, and

(3) how this information can be interpreted.

The overall focus of this section should be on constructive criticality, where you critically and carefully consider the nature of the relationships among mental wellness, flourishing and subjective well-being in Singapore.
d) Recommendations (500 words)
In this section, please propose healthy mental wellness habits to improve subjective wellbeing. This section should include your recommendation for a positive coping style that you can use to deal with challenges you may face in your workplace.
e) Reflections (200 words)
In this section, please reflect and apply what you have learnt from the exercise on social connections to your mental health and well-being.