“Does Trait Self-esteem Serve as a Protective Factor in Maintaining Daily Affective Well-being? Multilevel Analyses of Daily Diary Studies in the US and Singapore” by Matthew H.S. Ng of the Rehabilitation Research Institute of Singapore, Singapore, has been announced as a Spotlight Presentation at The 9th Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology (AGen2023).
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Abstract
Does Trait Self-esteem Serve as a Protective Factor in Maintaining Daily Affective Well-being? Multilevel Analyses of Daily Diary Studies in the US and Singapore
Research suggests that self-esteem could be a protective factor in stressful or unfavourable situations. However, little research has been done on the buffering role of self-esteem in the context of daily stressors on affective reactivity. Three daily diary studies (of which two were conducted in Singapore and one in the United States) were carried out to examine this relationship. In all three studies, trait self-esteem was measured at baseline. Subsequently, a daily assessment was conducted on the exposure to daily stressors and its positive and negative effects for seven to eight days. Multilevel modelling showed that trait self-esteem did not moderate the relationship between daily stressor exposure and daily effect. An internal meta-analysis aggregating the findings of all three studies was also consistent with our findings. These findings are contrary to previous literature surrounding the stress-buffering role of self-esteem.
Speaker Biography
Matthew H.S. Ng
Rehabilitation Research Institute of Singapore, Singapore
Ng Hok Shan Matthew has a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the Singapore Management University and currently supports both the Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the Rehabilitation Research Institute of Singapore as a Research Coordinator. His research interests lie in emotion regulation and how it relates to psychopathology. Specifically, he seeks to explore how emotional processes adapt or become maladaptive in the presence of stimuli (e.g. stressors, childhood adversity) and how this could protect or predispose one to psychopathology. He is also keen in examining how individual differences (e.g. culture) might influence this relationship.
Matthew is part of a trio, including Verity Lua and Nadyanna Majeed, who clinched first place at the ICPSR research paper competitions (Undergraduate) in 2021 for their project titled: "Is Trait Self-Esteem a Resilience Factor Against Daily Stressors? A Multilevel Analysis". He aspires to continue his graduate training in the United States, specifically in the field of Clinical Psychology.
