Cultural Sport Psychology and Elite Sport in Singapore: An Exploration of Identity and Practice

Guided by the principles of cultural sport psychology (CSP), this book explores the psychosocial issues surrounding elite sport and psychological practice in Singapore. CSP recognises the importance of understanding people as individuals, rather than objectifying and interpreting psychological processes independent of the socio-cultural context in which they stem from. For sport psychology to progress, it is imperative to distinguish and appreciate the difference between treating someone the same (i.e., culturally blind approach) and treating them equally (i.e., possess cultural awareness).

To address the paucity of cultural-specific research, this book explores the psychosocial issues of elite sport in Singapore using CSP as a theoretical and guiding philosophy. Given Singapore’s recent successes at the Olympic and Paralympic levels, this book is ideally timed to investigate the social and cultural developments of elite sport as they occur in a specific sociocultural context. The authors argue that if elite sport and sport psychology is to progress in Singapore, there is a need to refine its elite ecosystem, regulate the practice of sport psychology, and work towards establishing a professional community centred around a culture of constructive exchange, debate and cooperation.

This book presents a blueprint to any researcher, national institute, or practitioner, to systematically explore the culture and context within which they operate and organise action plans to address unique needs that were identified through this process.

Nicholas de Cruz, PhD, is a psychology lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences and developmental coach with the Singapore Sailing Federation. His research is centred around cultural sport psychology and elite sport in Singapore. At SUSS, he teaches performance psychology, research methods, and qualitative research. Nicholas is a chartered member (CPsychol) of the British Psychological Society, full member of the Singapore Psychological Society (MSPS) and National Registry of Coaches (SG-Coach Level 3), and a registered instructor with the Ministry of Education.