Singaporeans are feeling the social pressure of stereotypes even when they do not personally believe in them, with money emerging as one of the biggest sources of strain, according to AIA Group’s Rethink Healthy Asia Report.
The report found that 98% of respondents in Singapore said stereotypes negatively affect them socially. Singapore was also the only market in the study where financial status was clearly tied to both personal identity and masculinity.
These stereotypes include the ideas that “wealth determines a person’s worth” and “a man’s worth depends on his financial success.” According to AIA, this has created a tension between what Singaporeans personally believe and what they feel society expects from them.
“When financial success becomes a measure of personal worth, people can become overly focused on finances at the expense of other important areas of life. What begins as economic or environmental pressure can quickly turn into emotional pressure - shaping how people see themselves, their relationships, their place in society, and their overall wellbeing,” said Irma Hadikusuma, chief marketing and healthcare officer at AIA Singapore.
The report found that Singaporeans were less likely than the regional average to agree with some traditional stereotypes. For example, only 24% of respondents in Singapore agreed with the belief that “men must not show vulnerability,” compared with the 37.5% average across Asia.
Still, the impact of these stereotypes on wellbeing remained high. AIA said this suggests that social expectations can continue to influence behavior even when people reject the beliefs themselves.
This pressure appears to affect how openly people talk about their problems. The report described this as “social self-censorship,” where people avoid sharing their struggles because they fear looking weak or unsuccessful.
In Singapore, 71.1% of respondents said they were less likely to discuss issues with others, while 60.3% said they hid their struggles. Another 64.8% said stereotype pressure led them to engage in health-damaging behaviors, while 63.3% said they doubted the guidance of experts.
The pattern in Singapore also differed from other markets included in the study. In Malaysia, the most impactful stereotypes were linked to physical health ideals. In Thailand, they were tied to the effort and cost of staying healthy. In Mainland China, they were linked to family duty expectations.
