The current research sought to better understand the effect of mindfulness on well-being by examining self-connection as a potential mediator. We define self-connection as: (1) an awareness of oneself, (2) an acceptance of oneself based on this awareness, and (3) an alignment of one’s behavior with this awareness. Based on this definition, we measured self-connection, mindfulness and well-being using two distinct samples and two different operationalizations of well-being. In Study 1, we recruited 101 people from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and asked them about their connection to themselves, mindfulness and flourishing. In Study 2, we surveyed an additional 104 people from MTurk, again measuring mindfulness and self-connection. However, this time we operationalized well-being as satisfaction with life. As expected, mindfulness predicted self-connection and well-being in both studies. Self-connection also predicted well-being and partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and well-being. These results suggest that mindfulness bolsters self-connection, which in turn increases people’s well-being.

This study examines whether disaster experience and awareness, mediated by external locus of control, influence disaster preparedness behavior. Data were collected from 300 people in flood-prone and a further 300 in heat-wave affected areas in Orissa (a state situated in south-eastern part of India). Results reveal that prior experience of hazard events and knowledge of protective actions significantly facilitates flood and heat-wave preparedness. However, locus of control mediates this relationship. Disaster experienced and aware people characterised by having an external control were less prepared. External control partially mediates between experience–behaviour and information–action link. These findings suggest that the effects of personal experience and awareness on self-protective behaviour are weakened by external attribution.

I review the interesting contributions to this special thematic section in light of what has been referred to as the four core motivations for collective action (i.e. moral conviction, and group identification, anger and efficacy beliefs). Specifically, I relate the key findings and insights from these articles — based on intriguing data from participant samples in the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia and China — to these core motivations for collective action, after which I raise the question of just how “core” these motivations are, with an eye to an abundance of cultural variance. I answer this question by suggesting a number of conceptual bridges to move the field forward toward a proper cultural psychology of collective action. Such a cultural psychology, in my view, does justice not only to the notion of core motivations for collective action but also to the abundance of cultural variance. Specifically, I suggest to think about culture in terms of guiding when collective action is more or less likely to occur, within which the core motivations reflect the psychological processes that facilitate it.

The Pacific region is one of the most culturally diverse areas of the world; societies within this region are also culturally diverse. For both these reasons, intercultural relations and acculturation phenomena are at the forefront of psychological interests there. This paper first situates these phenomena in their ecological and cultural contexts, in which human diversity and individual behaviour can be examined and understood as adaptations to these contexts. Then the notion of differentiation in psychological and sociocultural phenomena is discussed, linking them to the concept of social capital. The processes involved in acculturation and intercultural relations are then described, and linked to the concept of differentiation. The argument is presented (with an empirical example from research with immigrant youth) that the more differentiated are a person's psychological life, as well as their social and cultural engagements, then the better adapted they are to living interculturally. Suggestions for policy and programme development and implementation are made: these include advancing the multicultural way of living together, and of accepting the need for mutual accommodation.

Resettlement programs for people from a refugee background must respond to a variety of concerns as people from diverse backgrounds and often longstanding periods of upheaval and hardship enter their new resettlement communities. Host countries approach the demands of resettlement through varying programs and policies and those differences across countries can profoundly affect the newcomers' experiences. The current study employs quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the individual and contextual factors that influence the resettlement experience for adults from Sudan being resettled in Queensland, Australia. Ninety Sudanese adults were recruited through snowball sampling techniques for the quantitative study, with 10 individuals purposefully selected to complete the semistructured qualitative interview. In the quantitative sample, 25 to 30% of participants reported significant symptoms of psychological distress and frequent experiences of discrimination, and the majority of participants reported integration (identifying with both Australian and Sudanese cultures) as their method of acculturation. Participants reported feeling initially welcomed into Australia, with positive influences including bonding and bridging capital, which helped them in their adaptation, and negative influences including problems with the resettlement programs and experiences of discrimination. The findings underscore the importance of sociopolitical context on refugee experiences of the resettlement process.

This article considers the popular concept of culture shock from three perspectives. The first is from the academic perspective, considering how researchers from different disciplines (anthropology, education, psychiatry, psychology, sociology) attempted to operationalise the concept and understand the process behind it. It represents 50 years of research using different methodologies and trying to answer different questions about the experience of travel for many reasons. This section of the article also considers issues concerned with the ‘overseas’ student; of which there are ever more travelling abroad to study. They can have serious culture shock difficulties. This is followed by a short section on migration in the South Pacific and the consequences for large and small countries, particularly that of sojourning, migration and refugees. The final section is a personal statement and reflection on culture shock and how I came to write two books and around a dozen papers on the topic.

Background: Among patients with schizophrenia, there is evidence of a negative association between self-stigma and subjective quality of life (SQoL), and self-esteem was an important mediator in the association. We attempted to use a longitudinal study to investigate the aforementioned mediation on a sample with schizophrenia. Methods: We used longitudinal data retrieved from medical records of a psychiatric centre between June 2014 and December 2015. In the data, we retrieved information of self-stigma using the Self-Stigma Scale — Short; SQoL, using the WHO questionnaire on the Quality of Life — Short Form; and self-esteem, using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. All the measures were evaluated five times. Linear mixed-effect models accompanied by Sobel tests were used to tackle the mediating effects. Results: Data from 74 patients (57 males) with schizophrenia were eligible for analysis; their mean (SD) age was 39.53 (10.67); mean age of onset was 22.95 (8.38). Self-esteem was a mediator for patients in physical (p = .039), psychological (p = .003), and social SQoL (p = .004), but not in environment SQoL (p = .051). Conclusion: Based on our findings, mental health professionals could tailor different programs to patients with schizophrenia, such as self-stigma reduction and self-esteem improvement programs. However, treatment as a whole should be sensitive to both self-stigma and self-esteem. Also, we should consider individuals’ health and wellbeing from social perspectives of disability rather than the medical model of disability emphasising symptoms and medications.

Cultural influence on the effects of attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control (PBC) on behavioural intentions can vary with types of behaviours. The current study compared American and Korean undergraduates for the effects of each of the Theory of Planned Behaviour components on intentions to sign an organ donor registry and to have family discussion about organ donation. For intentions to sign, results showed that attitudes were a stronger predictor among Americans than Koreans and that PBC was a significant predictor only among Koreans. While attitudes and subjective norms were similarly related to Americans' intentions to sign, subjective norms were more strongly related to Koreans' intentions to sign than attitudes and PBC. For intentions to have family discussion, Americans considered subjective norms to a greater extent than Koreans did. While subjective norms and PBC were more important than attitudes were among Americans, PBC was more important than subjective norms and attitudes among Koreans. Theoretical and practical implications of these and other findings are discussed.

This article describes the testing of a model that proposes that people's beliefs regarding the effectiveness of hazard preparedness interact with social context factors (community participation, collective efficacy, empowerment and trust) to influence levels of hazard preparedness. Using data obtained from people living in coastal communities in Alaska and Oregon that are susceptible to experiencing tsunami, structural equation modelling analyses confirmed the ability of the model to help account for differences in levels of tsunami preparedness. Analysis revealed that community members and civic agencies influence preparedness in ways that are independent of the information provided per se. The model suggests that, to encourage people to prepare, outreach strategies must (a) encourage community members to discuss tsunami hazard issues and to identify the resources and information they need to deal with the consequences a tsunami would pose for them and (b) ensure that the community-agency relationship is complementary and empowering.

This article documents the development of a community-based drug intervention for low- to mild-risk drug users who surrendered as part of the Philippine government's anti-drug campaign. It highlights the importance of developing evidence-informed drug recovery interventions that are appropriate to the Asian culture and to developing economies. Interviews and consultations with users and community stakeholders reveal the need for an intervention that would improve the drug recovery skills and life skills of users. Evidence-based interventions were adapted using McKleroy and colleagues’ (2006) Map of Adaptation Process (MAP) framework. The resulting intervention reflected the country's collectivist culture, relational values, propensity for indirect and non-verbal communication, and interdependent self-construal. The use of small groups, interactive and creative methodologies, and the incorporation of music and prayer also recognised the importance of these in the Philippine culture.

Racism refers to ‘the differential treatment enacted by an individual, group, or organization on individuals based on assumptions of a group's phenotypic, linguistic, or cultural differences’ (Gamst, Liang, & Der-Karabetian, 2011, p. 251). Currently, there is a lack of psychological research investigating racism in Singapore. The available research, narrative reviews, qualitative studies, and quantitative studies have yielded limited and inconclusive results. These researches are critically evaluated to provide four recommendations for a psychological research agenda: (a) develop a reliable and valid instrument to assess racism, (b) conduct experimental research to examine racism perpetuated by the majority or institutions, (c) examine the negative effects of racism, and (d) develop and evaluate interventions for racism.

The aim of the present study was to examine the mediating effect of self-concordance on the relationship between internet altruistic behaviour (IAB) and subjective wellbeing (SWB). A total of 356 Chinese university students (159 males and 197 females) participated, using the questionnaires in the Internet Altruistic Behavior Scale (IABS), the Self-Concordance Scale (SCS) and the General Well-Being Schedule (GWBS). Correlation results indicated that IAB was positively correlated with self-concordance and SWB. The hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both IAB and self-concordance positively affect SWB. Moreover, IAB affected SWB indirectly via self-concordance, which confirmed self-concordance partially mediated the relationship between IAB and SWB. These findings extend the previous research on the association between altruism and SWB.

This research explored how skilled, self-selected migrants make a decision to leave their country of origin and choose a destination. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 20 pre-departure and 26 post-arrival migrants to New Zealand from the United Kingdom/Ireland, India and South Africa. A thematic analysis was conducted separately for each country's data. For these migrants, the decision process contained three major decisions: whether, where and when to go. Regarding the question of whether to go, key factors were both intrapersonal and social. New Zealand was selected as a destination of choice due to quality of life, safety, environment, cultural similarity, job opportunities and the perception that migrants were wanted. On the question of when to go, the decision process was a negotiation between partners, and often extended family, which occurred over a long period of time.

This article describes a 12-week intervention targeting positivity towards asylum seekers, Indigenous Australians and Muslim Australians. The study also assessed change in the intention to engage in bystander activism in four different scenarios: two Indigenous (old-fashioned and modern prejudice), one Muslim and one asylum seeker. There was a significant increase in positivity towards asylum seekers, Indigenous Australians and Muslim Australians. There was also a significant increase in ‘speaking out intention’, a form of bystander anti-prejudice, in three of the scenarios, but not in response to the Indigenous old-fashioned prejudice scenario. The study indicates that structured education on cross-cultural issues can improve attitudes to perceived ‘outgroups’ and, for the most part, increase participants' intention to speak out against prejudice.

This special issue of the journal, which is part of a global research initiative on psychology and poverty reduction, focuses specifically on the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers. Application of contemporary constructions of relative poverty and social exclusion to understanding asylum and humanitarian refuge emphasises the relative financial and social disadvantages experienced by many of these forced migrants, which may lead subsequently to them having negative experiences of resettlement and poor mental health and overall wellbeing. We argue that governments need to be cognisant of the poverty pitfalls of forced migration and to examine carefully their policies on social inclusion to ensure that current and future humanitarian and climate change refugees arriving on their shores are not forced into relative poverty.

In recent years there has been an increase in Black African immigrants to Australia; however, there is no social psychological research that directly examines community attitudes towards this group. Here, the findings of a community survey in Western Australia are reported using data collected from 184 Australian participants. We were particularly interested in prejudiced attitudes and the function of attitudes towards Black African immigrants. On prejudice, a reliable and valid instrument measuring attitudes towards Black African immigrants was constructed. On functions, the most frequently reported function of attitude was ‘value-expressive’ (‘My attitudes give expression to my values’), followed by experiential-schematic (‘Helps me to make sense of the world’) and indirect experiential-schematic (‘Media, friends and family help me to make sense of the world’). While there was no significant difference between immigrant-accepting versus immigrant-rejecting participants on the value expressive or the experiential schematic functions, rejecting participants scored higher on the indirect experiential schematic function, highlighting the salience of second-hand information. The participants' most important reason for potentially changing their own attitudes towards Black African immigrants, however, were direct experience (experiential-schematic), followed by values (value expressive) and indirect experience (indirect experiential-schematic), two functions that were equally important. Qualitative open-ended interviews about attitudes converged with these themes, and added ‘integration’ by assimilating Australian culture, and not being involved in criminal activities (which highlights again a role for the media). We discuss these findings and derive a clear direction for anti-prejudice strategies at community and government levels.

This study examines the usage of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire in Chinese students aged from 10 to 25 within four age groups (N = 5,510): early adolescence (10–13 years old, n = 1,258), middle adolescence (14–17 years old, n = 1,987), late adolescence (18–21 years old, n = 1,950) and early adulthood (22–25 years old, n = 315); and analyses the structure and levels of meaning in life, as well as the relationship between meaning in life and mental health. Results showed that: (1) the Meaning in Life Questionnaire in the four age groups of Chinese students had good construct validity and internal consistency reliability; (2) the average levels of the presence of meaning and search for meaning of Chinese students were moderate or above, and had obvious differences according to gender and family location (i.e., urban vs. rural); (3) the level of presence of meaning showed a trend of rising rapidly in middle adolescence and the level of search for meaning continued to rise in early adolescence and fell rapidly towards the end of adolescence; (4) presence of meaning was positively related to life satisfaction and positive affect and negatively related to depression and negative affect, and the same correlations were found with search for meaning.

Background: Depression is a commonly studied mental disorder affecting Chinese internal (i.e., rural-to-urban) migrants. Social resources effectively reduce depression for many communities experiencing adversities. This study evaluated social-level risk factors for depression between internal migrant and non-migrant Chinese living in mainland China. Method: We conducted a random population-level survey among migrants and local residents living in Guangzhou, China. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews. We used items from the Social Support Rating Scale to measure social resource dimensions, including social network size, emotional support, structural social capital, and one (self-developed) item that measured belonging (an element of social cohesion). The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 measured depression. Correlation and regression analyses of the partial sample (n = 678) were conducted to estimate the association between social resources and depression for migrants (n = 383) and non-migrants (n = 295). Results: Stratified regression analysis demonstrated that for migrants, greater belonging was associated with less depression, while age and larger friendship social network size was related to less depression among non-migrants. Conclusion: Differences emerged in our sample with regard to the types of social resources that are protective against depression between migrants and non-migrants. Interventions that provide opportunities for migrants to better integrate and feel welcomed into their new communities may reduce their depression symptoms.

Survivors of the 921 Earthquake in the Tung Shih areas were the target population for this study. The researchers used purposive sampling strategies to select information-rich participants for study in depth. A total of 15 interviewees and 8 focus group members participated in this study. Qualitative data analysis software, ATLAS.ti 5.5, was used for cross-case and content analyses. The results indicate that acceptance, preparedness, self-reliance, spirituality, Hakka spirit, resource availability, social support networks, and serving others have positive impacts on disaster resilience. Participants from the in-depth interviews group affirm the importance of government involvement. Participants from the focus group pay special attentions on re-establishing social support networks. Furthermore, they reinforce the importance of understanding culture and meanings for the local people.

This study evaluated the impact of Katatagan, a culturally adapted, group-based, and mindfulness-informed resilience intervention developed for disaster survivors in the Philippines. The intervention aimed to teach six adaptive coping skills: harnessing strengths, managing physical reactions, managing thoughts and emotions, seeking solutions and support, identifying positive activities, and planning for the future. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted with 163 Typhoon Haiyan survivors. Six-month follow-up assessments were obtained for 37 participants. Pre- and post-results showed improvements in participants’ self-efficacy on all six coping skills. The 6-month follow-up revealed significant improvements in four of the six coping skills. Focus group discussions conducted at follow-up revealed that mindfulness, self-care, strengths, and reframing were some of the topics that were most memorable to participants. Among these, participants identified mindfulness as a skill that they continued to use. Participants also shared that they felt stronger because of the intervention and have shared what they learned with others in their communities.