Event Details

Understanding discrimination against singlehood has become a pivotal goal in recent research, but the effect of such discrimination on subsequent relationship initiation has not been well explored. The current research explores this issue from a social identity threat perspective, trying to understand whether stigmatizing singlehood results in greater tendency to form romantic relationships. Results from two correlational surveys and two experimental studies show that exposure to singlehood stigma simultaneously increases motivation to avoid being single, but decreases the capacity or control to do so. This suggests that discrimination against singlehood may be directly linked to the maintenance of singlehood, despite intentions to build romantic relationships.

Speaker:
Dr Kenneth Tan is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University. He obtained his BS and MA from the National University of Singapore, and his PhD from Purdue University. He was also the recipient of the MOE-START Early Career Award. His field of research is in social-personality psychology, with a focus on examining cognition, emotion, motivation and behavior in the context of close, interpersonal relationships. Specifically, his research interests revolve around commitment, relationship receptivity, singlehood, and relationship dissolution, with the long-term goal to understand how individuals can overcome emotional and motivational challenges to support positive relationships and enhance wellbeing. He has published his research in journals such as Psychological Science, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Social Psychological and Personality Science, and Journal of Family Psychology, amongst others.

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