CHILDHOOD NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIAL ENCOUNTERS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING: A SINGAPORE PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Children are the future. The well-being and growth of their conative, affective and cognitive abilities is an important social goal, and has far reaching implications for society, such as socio-economic progress and social equality. It is thus important for policy makers to take into account the impact on the psychological well-being of children, especially those in their formative years. The objective of this research is to investigate the subject of children’s psychological wellbeing, in relation to the neighborhoods’ social environment in the context of Singapore. 303 surveys of children between 13 and 16 years old were collected. The research hypotheses were evaluated using a child's academic excellence, social competence, and self-esteem as proxies of the dependent variables. Multiple Linear Regression was employed to review the development of self-esteem levels and academic excellence, while Ordinal Logistic Regression was chosen to examine social competence and support. The study found that whilst academic excellence had little correlation with neighborly social interaction, males tended to do worse than females and greeting neighbors had a positive correlation. On the other hand, self-esteem was positively correlated with certain formal and informal interactions, such as initiating conversations with neighbors, community center classes and participation in neighborhood competitions. Social competence was also found to be positively correlated with both formal and informal interactions, with formal interactions having a stronger influence.