Military Psychology in the Singapore Armed Forces

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the key developments and considerations that had influenced the employment and organization of military psychology in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), which is primarily a conscripted force. Singapore’s goals to achieve success and security with limited manpower resources were important drivers in the development of a military psychology capability. In the SAF, the main pillar of military psychology is industrial-organizational psychology. In 1967 (2 years after Singapore’s independence), a Psychological Testing Centre was established to screen, select, and allocate soldiers for different vocations. Over the years, the applications of psychology grew in areas such as leadership development, team development, organizational development, psychological support for operations, mental healthcare, and research. Today, uniformed and non-uniformed psychologists are centralized as well as decentralized in the various services to directly enhance soldiers’ motivation and performance and unit effectiveness.

The authors would like to express their gratitude to Defence Psychology Department, Ministry of Defence, Singapore, for their assistance in this chapter. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not of Leadalytics, Ministry of Defence, Singapore, or the Singapore Armed Forces.