Prospect Theory

According to Clayton and Myers (2009: 25), prospect theory states that people give more weight to a possible loss than a possible gain when making decisions.

As such, the government may see population growth as a necessary move to continue building Singapore as a dynamic country and in maintaining its position as the leading country in Asia[1]. However, Singapore citizens may not share such similar sentiments. Rather than seeing how an influx of immigrants could help to support Singapore’s shrinking and ageing population, Singaporeans are more concerned about the possible losses or inconveniences that they could face as a result of a growing     population, such as traffic congestion and              Photo Credit: Alliance for Water Efficiency job competitions.

Although there are numerous government and non-government organizations that provide avenues for Singaporeans to engage in environmentally-friendly behaviors, such as the ‘Bring Your Own Bag Day‘ campaign, such efforts are still far from inculcating environmentally-friendly behaviour or environmental concern in Singaporeans.

A poll conducted by Yahoo! in 2012 revealed that 66% of Singaporeans are against the law of having to pay for the use of plastic bags, which is a move proposed by the Singapore Environment Council, in an attempt to cut down on the use of plastic bags in Singapore. While the objective of such a move is clearly to reduce the irreversible pollution and damage that plastic bags have on the environment, Singaporeans see it as them sufferring a personal loss as they believed that the cost of plastic bags have already been included in the operation cost of running the business. Hence, they felt that they should be entitled to receive plastic bags for free.

                                                                                           Photo Credit: SG Volunteer