Master of Arts (Counselling & Guidance)

This study examines the construct of possible selves of university students in Singapore. The study proposes that students from more specialised faculties would have more positive possible selves in terms of learned optimism, self-esteem and vocational expectations.

A sample of 121 Singaporean undergraduate students studying in local universities participated in the study. They were administered the ‘Open-ended Possible Self & Behavioural Strategy Measure’ (Oyserman & Markus, 1990; Oyserman & Saltz, 1993), ‘Learned Optimism Test’ (Seligman, 1991), ‘Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale’ (Rosenberg, 1965) and ‘Vocational Outcome Expectations Scale-Revised’ (McWhirter, Rasheed, & Crothers, 2000).

Results from the study showed that possible selves were correlated with having more positive vocational expectations but did not correlate with having higher levels of optimism and self-esteem. It was also found that students from more specialised faculties had significantly more positive possible selves and more positive vocational expectations than those from less specialised faculties. Lastly, the study surfaced that course specialisation showed a significant association with the number of positive possible selves. The findings suggest that students from more specialised courses seemed to have significantly more positive possible selves and more positive vocational expectations than those who were from less specialised courses.

This study contributes to the body of research that highlights the impact university education has on students’ vocational expectations. The implications and limitations of the research findings and recommendations for future research are also discussed.