Wei Ting Ng

Associate Professor Ng Wei Ting

Head, Master of Applied Research in Social Sciences (MRESS)

School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences

Tel: +65 6248 5003

Email: d2VpdGluZ0BzdXNzLmVkdS5zZw==

Educational Qualifications

  • 2007

    PhD (Psychology), University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  • 2005

    M.A (Psychology), University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  • 2002

    B.S. (Civil Engineering) (Magna Cum Lauda), Cornell University

  • 2002

    B.A. (Psychology) With Distinction in All Subjects, Cornell University

Academic and Professional Experience

  • 2005 - 2006

    Instructor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  • 2003 - 2005

    Graduate Research Assistant, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

  • 2003

    Associate Tutor, Singapore Institute of Management, Open University Center

  • 2002 - 2003

    Project Officer, Nanyang Technological University

Journal Articles/Book Chapters

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2018).
Affluence and subjective well-being: Does income inequality moderate their associations? Applied Research in Quality of Life. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s11482-017-9585-9.

Ng, W. (2017).
Extending traditional psychological disciplines to positive psychology: A view from subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18, 1553–1571.

Ng, W. (2016).
Use of positive interventions: Does neuroticism moderate the sustainability of their effects on happiness? The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11, 51–61.

Ng, W. (2015).
Neuroticism. In J. D. Wright (Ed.). International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (2nd ed., Vol. 16, pp. 743–748). Oxford: Elsevier.

Ng, W. (2015).
Boosting well-being with positive psychology interventions: Moderating role of personality and other factors. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 45, 79–87.

Ng, W. (2015).
Processes underlying links to subjective well-being: Material concerns, autonomy, and personality. Journal of Happiness Studies, 16, 1575 – 1591.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2014).
What matters to the rich and the poor? Subjective well-being, financial satisfaction, and post-materialist needs across the world. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107, 326- 338.

Ng, W. (2014).
Affluence, stress, and well-being. In Michalos AC (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 93-96). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

Ng, W. (2013).
Daily use of reappraisal decreases negative emotions toward daily unpleasant events. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 32, 530-545.

Ng, W. (2013).
The duality of wealth: Is material wealth good or bad for well-being? Journal of Social Research and Policy, 4, 7-19.

Ng, W. (2012).
Neuroticism and well-being? Let’s work on the positive rather than negative aspects. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 7, 416-426.

Diener, E., Ng, W., Harter, J., & Arora, R. (2010).
Wealth and happiness across the world: Material prosperity predicts life evaluation, while psychosocial prosperity predicts positive feeling. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 52-61.

Ng, W. (2009).
Clarifying the relation between neuroticism and positive emotions. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 69-72.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2009).
Feeling bad? The “power” of positive thinking may not apply to everyone. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 455-463.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2009).
Personality Differences in Emotions: Does Emotion Regulation play a role? Journal of Individual Differences, 30, 100-106.

Ng, W., Diener, E., Arora, R., & Harter, J. (2009).
Affluence, feelings of stress, and well-being. Social Indicators Research, 94, 257-271.

Diener, E., Ng, W., & Tov, W. (2008).
Balance in life and declining marginal utility of diverse resources. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 3, 277-291.

Conference Presentations

Ng, W. (2016, October).
A cultural perspective of well-being. Symposium presented at the International Conference on Well-Being, Singapore.

Ng, W. (2016, June).
Development of positive psychology: Contributions from traditional psychological disciplines. Paper presented at the Canadian Conference on Positive Psychology, Ontario, Canada.

Ng, W. (2015, June).
Material and Psychological Determinants of Subjective Well-being (SWB): Do Material Concerns Mediate the Links between Personality, Autonomy, and SWB? Paper presented at the World Congress on Positive Psychology, Orlando, FL.

Ng, W. (2014, July).
Positive psychotherapy: Use of positive interventions and the moderating role of neuroticism. Paper presented at the European Conference on Positive Psychology, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Ng, W. (2013, August).
Do effects of cognitive strategies on well-being endure? The moderating role of neuroticism. Paper presented at the Asian Congress of Health Psychology, Daejeon, Korea.

Ng, W. (2012, May).
Neuroticism mediates the effects of adaptive, but not maladaptive emotion regulatory strategies. Poster presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2011, January).
Does everyone want to be happy? Neuroticism and positive thinking. Symposium presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2007, January).
The role of cognitive strategies in affecting the relation between neuroticism and emotion. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2006, January).
Ethnic differences in emotional reactions and emotion regulation. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Palm Springs, CA.

  • Society for Personality and Social Psychology
  • Association for Psychological Science
  • Reviewer for:
  • Reviewer for: Asian Journal of Social Psychology; Australian Journal of Psychology; Clinical Psychological Science; Cognition and Emotion; International Journal of Well-Being; Journal of Behavioral Decision Making; Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy; Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology; Journal of Happiness Studies; Journal of Personality; Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology; Personality and Individual Differences; Quality of Life Research; The Journal of Positive Psychology
  • Cognition, emotion, and traits
  • Well-being/happiness: Predictors of well-being; comparisons of different forms of well-being; cultural and personality differences in well-being; influence of happiness on important life outcomes
  • Personality differences in emotion and emotion regulation
  • Culture and emotion

Ng, W. (2015, June).
Material and Psychological Determinants of Subjective Well-being (SWB): Do Material Concerns Mediate the Links between Personality, Autonomy, and SWB? Paper presented at the World Congress on Positive Psychology, Orlando, FL.

Ng, W. (2014, July).
Positive psychotherapy: Use of positive interventions and the moderating role of neuroticism. Paper presented at the European Conference on Positive Psychology, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Ng, W., & Lim, W. (2014, July).
Does neuroticism moderate the effects of visualizing best possible selves on happiness? Poster presented at the European Conference on Positive Psychology, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Ng, W. (2013, August).
Do effects of cognitive strategies on well-being endure? The moderating role of neuroticism. Symposium presented at the Asian Congress of Health Psychology, Daejeon, Korea.

Ng, W. (2012, May).
Neuroticism mediates the effects of adaptive, but not maladaptive emotion regulatory strategies. Poster presented at the Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2011, January).
Does everyone want to be happy? Neuroticism and positive thinking. Symposium presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2009, May).
Constant practice helps: Neurotics can use adaptive cognitive strategies to feel better. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA.

Fu, H. Y., Ng, W., & Lee, S. L. (2007, May).
Tense or pleasant? When context is inapplicable for the activated cultural mindframe. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.

Ng, W., & Baillargeon, R., & Wilcox, T. (2007, March).
8.5-month-old infants use pattern but not color information to individuate objects in occlusion events. Paper presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Boston, MA.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2007, January).
The role of cognitive strategies in affecting the relation between neuroticism and emotion. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN.

Ng, W., & Baillargeon, R. (2006, June).
Décalage in infants’ reasoning about color information in occlusion and containment events. Paper presented at the Biennial International Conference on Infant Studies, Kyoto, Japan.

Ng, W., & Baillargeon, R. (2006, April).
Priming 12.5-month-old infants to detect color changes in containment events. Symposium presented at Conference on Human Development, Louisville, KY.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2006, January).
Ethnic differences in emotional reactions and emotion regulation. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Palm Springs, CA.

Ng, W., & Diener, E. (2006, January).
Personality differences in emotional experience and emotion regulation. Poster presented at the Emotion Pre-Conference (to the Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology), Palm Springs, CA.

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