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Gambling in Malaysia: an overview

Rathakrishnan B, George S

BJPsych Int, 2021 May;18(2):32-34.
PMID: 34287394 DOI: 10.1192/bji.2020.55

Many forms of gambling are legal and popular in Malaysia. Despite this, in Malaysia, research into gambling is limited and there is no coherent strategy to tackle gambling-related harms. This paper summarises the gambling landscape of Malaysia, law governing gambling and research done so far and gives some recommendations on the way forward.
The impact of psychosocial safety climate on public sector job satisfaction: the moderating role of organizational climate

Lintanga AJBJ, Rathakrishnan B

BMC Psychol, 2024 Jan 19;12(1):38.
PMID: 38243327 DOI: 10.1186/s40359-023-01513-8

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to uncover the effect of psychological safety climate (PSC) on employees' job satisfaction and organisational climate mediating processes explaining that association. It is posited that the four PSC aspects (management commitment, management priority, organisational participation, and organisational communication) are important for employees' job satisfaction and organisational climate act as resources to facilitate the enactment of managerial quality.
METHODS: This study uses a quantitative approach through a questionnaire survey method involving 340 Kota Kinabalu City Hall employees who were selected through simple random sampling.
RESULTS: The results of linear regression analysis found that organisation participation has a positive significant relationship with job satisfaction. Organisational communication also showed a negative and significant relationship with job satisfaction. Meanwhile, both management commitment and management priority are statistically insignificant. When the organisational climate is included in the relationship as a mediator through Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to reinforce the role of psychological safety climate in increasing job satisfaction, such mediating role can only strengthen the relationship between management commitment and organisational participation with job satisfaction.
CONCLUSION: Despite the study being cross-sectional, it contributes to knowledge on the resources facilitating PSC, which is important for employees' psychological health. From a practical viewpoint, this study contributes to the literature showing that organizations with good PSC should have policies and practices directed towards employee well-being. The implications of the study for DBKK management are to providing knowledge on the types of psychosocial safety climate domains that plays a crucial role in improving the job satisfaction of DBKK employees.
Fulltext Gaming Preferences and Personality among School Students

Rathakrishnan B, Bikar Singh SS, Yahaya A

Children (Basel), 2023 Feb 22;10(3).
PMID: 36979985 DOI: 10.3390/children10030428

Gaming has vastly developed into numerous genres; nonetheless, most studies in the literature emphasize the violent genre only. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between personality and gaming preferences among school students. This study also aims to investigate the difference in the time spent on gaming based on gender. The third objective involves examining the differences in frequency in playing a video game based on age. The sample group comprised 420 school students aged between 12 and 17 years old, including hardcore and casual gamers. The online survey was conducted using Google Forms, and the participants were requested to answer the demographic questionnaire, Big Five Inventory, and Gaming Preferences Questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 software for general descriptive statistics. The results show that there was a significant relationship between gaming preferences role-playing game (RPG), combat, online, and music genres) and personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientious, neuroticism, and openness). The results also indicate a difference between gender and the number of hours spent on gaming, but no such difference existed between age and the frequency of playing games. From the psychological perspective, gaming preference is related to their personality and influences the behavior of children and overall health in daily life.
Fulltext Smartphone Addiction and Sleep Quality on Academic Performance of University Students: An Exploratory Research

Rathakrishnan B, Bikar Singh SS, Kamaluddin MR, Yahaya A, Mohd Nasir MA, Ibrahim F, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 08 05;18(16).
PMID: 34444042 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18168291

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between smartphone addiction, sleep quality, and academic performance. The study presented quantitative research on 323 students in a public university in Sabah to explore the relationship between smartphone addiction, sleep quality, and academic performance. A simple random sampling was used in the study. The Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS-SV) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used in this study. SPSS was used as a tool of analysis for descriptive and inferential analysis. Pearson correlation was involved to test the hypothesis of the study. The result indicated that the greater the smartphone addiction, the lower the academic performance of university students. The finding also proved that students with poor sleep quality might exhibit low academic performance. Smartphone addiction was found to be associated with sleep quality where overusing smartphones was related to poor sleep quality in university students. On this basis, the problem of smartphone addiction and sleep quality should be tackled in order to improve the academic performance of university students and their overall health.
Fulltext Vulnerability towards online sexual grooming among Malaysian children. [Kerentanan kanak-kanak Malaysia terhadap pengantunan seksual dalam talian]

Zainal Rashid AA, Kamaluddin MR, Wahab S, Abdul Aziz DA, Abdul Latiff Z, Rathakrishnan B

Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia, 2018;32:91-108.

This study was conducted to examine the vulnerability of Malaysian children towards online sexual grooming by ascertaining the level of vulnerability and the relationships with social media profiles and demographical factors. To achieve the objectives of this study, a quantitative method using a cross-sectional research design with the aid of electronic questionnaire via Google Form was used to gather the data. A total of 205 Malaysian children from the age of 10 to 17 years old participated in this study with their parents’ consent. Based on the analyses of the items, it was found that each child was vulnerable towards sexual grooming at different levels. This study also found that the frequency of social media usage was directly correlated with online sexual grooming vulnerability (r = 0.14, p = 0.05) and age of the respondents (r = 0.20, p = 0.006). Children with more social media accounts were also found to be more vulnerable towards online sexual grooming compared to those with lower number of social media accounts (F (2, 191) = 7.30, p = 0.001). Findings also revealed that there was no significant difference on online sexual grooming vulnerability in terms of gender (t (191) = -0.39, p = 0.149). As a conclusion, this study provide in-depth exposure related to online sexual grooming vulnerability to public
Fulltext The Link between Individual Personality Traits and Criminality: A Systematic Review

Tharshini NK, Ibrahim F, Kamaluddin MR, Rathakrishnan B, Che Mohd Nasir N

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 Aug 17;18(16).
PMID: 34444412 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18168663

In addition to social and environmental factors, individual personality traits have intricately linked with maladaptive behaviour. Thus, the purpose of this article was to review the link between individual personality traits and criminality. A systematic review was conducted to obtain information regarding the link between individual personality traits with criminal behaviour in the Sage, Web of Science, APA PsycNet, Wiley Online Library, and PubMed databases. The results indicate that individual personality traits that contribute towards criminality are (i) psychopathy; (ii) low self-control; and (iii) difficult temperament. As an overall impact, the review is expected to provide in-depth understanding of the link between individual personality traits and criminality; hence, greater consideration will be given to the dimension of personality as a notable risk factor of criminal behaviour.
Fulltext The Relationship Among Spirituality, Fear, and Mental Health on COVID-19 Among Adults: An Exploratory Research

Rathakrishnan B, Singh SSB, Yahaya A, Kamaluddin MR, Aziz SFA

Front Psychol, 2021;12:815332.
PMID: 35095699 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.815332

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is impactful on all aspects of individuals' lives, particularly mental health due to the fear and spirituality associated with the pandemic. Thus, purpose of this study was to identify the relationship among fear, spirituality, and mental health on COVID-19 among adults in Malaysia. This study also examines spirituality as a mediator in relationship between fear and mental health. The study involved around 280 adults in Malaysia. This research is a quantitative study. Data analysis method (SEM-PLS) has been used for data analysis. Based on descriptive analysis, mental health questionnaire indicated that 60.0% of them are at a poor level of mental health whereas 57.5% of respondents showed a moderate level of COVID-19 fear, and 60.4% of respondents owned moderate level of spiritual well-being. The results also demonstrated that respondents that have a high level of fear would have a high level of mental health; interestingly, those with a high level of spirituality will have a lower level of mental health. Findings indicated that spirituality significantly mediated the relationship between fear and mental health. This research will help to demonstrate how important spirituality values to control mental health to be more positive among adults in Malaysia. The main contributions of this study are to help come out with new intervention method for those who are mentally ill and need help.
Fulltext The Psychology of Murder Concealment Acts

Kamaluddin MR, Mahat NA, Mat Saat GA, Othman A, Anthony IL, Kumar S, et al.

Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 03 18;18(6).
PMID: 33803514 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18063113

The escalating trend of murder victim concealment worldwide appears worrying, and literature does not reveal any specific study focusing on victim concealment amongst convicted male Malaysian murderers. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the psychological traits that may underlie the act of murder concealment in Malaysia via mixed method approaches. Male murderers (n = 71) from 11 prisons were selected via purposive sampling technique. In the quantitative analysis, a cross-sectional study design using the validated questionnaire was used. The questionnaire contained murder concealment variables and four Malay validated psychometric instruments measuring: personality traits, self-control, aggression, and cognitive distortion. The independent sample t-tests revealed the significantly higher level of anger in murderers who did not commit concealment acts (8.55 ± 2.85, p < 0.05) when compared with those who did so (6.40 ± 2.64). Meanwhile, the Kruskal-Wallis H test revealed that anger and the personality trait of aggressiveness-hostility significantly varied across the different groups of murder concealment acts (p < 0.05). The qualitative data obtained via the in-depth interviews revealed two important themes for the murderers to commit murder concealment acts: (1) fear of discovery and punishment and (2) blaming others. These findings discussed from the perspectives of the murderers within the context of criminology and psychology may provide the first ever insight into the murder concealment acts in Malaysia that can benefit the relevant authorities for crime prevention and investigation efforts.