Dr Tania Nagpaul
Senior Lecturer, Human Resource Management Programme
Educational Qualifications
2012 - 2017
PhD in Psychology, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore
Cumulative GPA: 4.75/5.0 Thesis Title: Contingent self-esteem, materialism and
wellbeing: the mediating effects of need for autonomy.
2001 - 2003
Masters in Applied Psychology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.
1998 - 2001
Bachelor (Honours) in Psychology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
Academic and Professional Experience
2020 - Present
Senior Lecturer, Human Resource Management Programme, S R Nathan School of Human Development, Singapore University of Social Sciences
2017 - 2020
Programme Manager (Research), Lien Centre for Social Innovation, Singapore
Management University, Singapore.
2016 - 2020
Adjunct Lecturer, Division of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore. Developed and taught a course on "Psychology for Sustainability".
2012 - 2017
PhD Candidate, Division of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore.
2006 - 2009
Lecturer, Division of Psychology, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Taught a course entitled, "Coping with Cultural Transition".
2006 - 2010
Associate Chair and Tutor, Department of Psychology, SIM, Singapore.
Awards and Honours
July 2025
Received the SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence 2025.
May 2025
Awarded the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) Grant for the project titled “Barriers to Workforce Participation and Job Support Utilisation Among Low-Income Women: Exploring Support Needs and Meritocracy Beliefs.”
March 2024
Awarded the MOE-SUF research funding for the project titled “Investigating the effectiveness of a university-level diversity and inclusion course in influencing students’ diversity-related attitudes and behaviours.”
July 2022
Received the SUSS Award for Teaching Excellence 2022 – Honourable Mention Certificate.
2015 & 2016
Won the Best Speaker Award at the Humanities and Social Sciences Colloquium, NTU, Singapore, for two consecutive years.
Selected Publications
Journals:
Nagpaul, T., C-H. Leong, C-S. Toh, A. B. Amir, R. Chin, and S. Tan. (2022). Exploring Job Satisfaction and Intentions to Quit among Security Officers: The Role of Work Hygiene and Motivator Factors. Social Sciences 11: 497. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11110497
Nagpaul, T., Sidhu, D., & Chen, J. (2021). Food Insecurity Mediates the Relationship between Poverty and Mental Health, Journal of Poverty, Published online: 14 Apr 2021. DOI: 10.1080/10875549.2021.1910102 (Impact Factor-Citescore: 1.4)
TAN, Qiuyi; DAVIS, Christy; SIDHU, Dalvin; and Nagpaul, T.. (2020). Crisis and connection. 1-29. Lien Centre for Social Innovation: Research. Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lien_reports/17
Nagpaul, T., Sidhu, D., & Chen, J. (2020). The hunger report: An in-depth look at food insecurity in Singapore. 1-27. Lien Centre for Social Innovation: Research. https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lien_reports/15
Nagpaul, T., & Chen. (2019). Self-determination theory as a Framework for understanding needs of youth at-risk: Perspectives of social service professionals and the youth themselves. Children and Youth Services Review, 99, 328-342. (Impact Factor: 2.04)
Nagpaul, T., & Pang, J.S. (2017). Extrinsic and Intrinsic Contingent self-esteem and materialism: A correlational and experimental investigation. Psychology and Marketing. DOI:10.1002/mar.21009 (Impact Factor: 2.02)
Nagpaul, T., & Pang, J.S. (2017). Materialism lowers well-being: The mediating role of need for autonomy—correlational and experimental evidence. Asian Journal of Social Psychology 20(1), 11–21. doi: 10.1111/ajsp.12159. (Impact Factor: 0.74)
Edited Books and Book Chapters:
Nagpaul, T. & Koh, C. B. (2022) “SimplyGood: From a Mission to Rescue Waste to a Passion for Reducing Single-use Plastics”. In Foo, M. D., Koh, C, B., Pua, M. (Ed). Towards a Sustainable Future: Delivering positive economic, environmental and social impact. (pp. 23–40). Asian Business Case Center.
Op-eds and Commentaries:
Nagpaul, T. (2024, April 19). Racial slurs take a wider toll than hurting the recipient. Here’s what we can all do about it. Today. Commentary.
Nagpaul, T. (2023, July 26). Diversity and inclusion — mere buzzwords or life skills to be taught in school? Today.
Nagpaul, T. (2022, November 15). What youth want most from a job, and what bosses should do to get the best out of them. Today.
Nagpaul, T. (2022, January 17). Do we dump office chores no one wants to do on admin staff? Channel News Asia.
Nagpaul, T. (2021, November 30). Understanding the psychology of vaccine hesitancy could help to change minds. Today.