Master of Arts (Counselling & Guidance)

This study examined the correlation between pleasant activities and emotional well-being in a convenience sample of 94 adult Singaporeans. This study aimed to explore the correlation between pleasant activities and emotional well-being, as measured by the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) of 10 positive and 10 negative feelings (Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988). The research questions this study examined are: Is there any correlation between the frequency of engagement in pleasant activities and level of positive and negative affect experienced? Specifically, is higher level of frequency of engagement in pleasant activities associated with higher level of positive affect? Is lower level of engagement in pleasant activities associated with high level of negative affect? Is higher SES associated with higher level of positive affect? Is lower SES associated with higher level of negative affect? This study explored into the types of activities identified by Singaporeans to be pleasurable. The study is based on the Behavioral Activation Theory pioneered by Lewinsohn, who started using behavioral activation as an intervention treatment for depression in the 1970’s (Lwinsohn & Libert, 1972; Lewinsohn & Graf, 1973; Lewinsohn, Biglan & Zeiss, 1976). Results from this research found the correlation between frequency of pleasant activities with the level of positive affect and negative affect to be insignificant. Results from this research also did not reveal any significant correlation between SES and the level of positive and negative affect. However, this research discovered that the sampled population experienced almost twice as much positive affect in intensity than negative affect and that a significant percentage of pleasant activities engaged by Singaporeans are solitary or non-interactive in nature.