Considering the strengths and weaknesses of currently available inventories measuring mindfulness for Chinese population, a need for a short and comprehensive inventory was identified. The present study therefore developed a written Chinese version of the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale — Revised (CAMS-R) that excels in its full range of conceptual coverage, employs widely accessible language, and is brief in length. The reliability and validity of the Ch-CAMS-R was examined and found to be compatible with the original version and with other inventories measuring mindfulness. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) suggested allocation of two question items, without posing a threat to the four-factor (including attention, awareness, present-focus and acceptance) structure in both the CAMS-R and Ch-CAMS-R. In general, the present study supports that this four-factor structure is compatible with the conceptualidation of mindfulness in both United States and Hong Kong samples.

The present study identified, evaluated, and compared two health belief/attitudinal models (protection motivation theory and the theory of planned behaviour) that explain the decision-making processes associated with both the intention for and engagement in self-care overweight/obesity-reducing behaviours. Multi-model analysis with a sample of 1,100 participants indicated that the theory of planned behaviour offered a better representation of, and provided a more potent theoretical framework than the protection motivation model in explaining the decision-making processes underlying both the intention for and engagement in self-care overweight/obesity-reducing behaviours. Employment of multi-group analysis yielded no significant gender differences in the adoption of overweight/obesity-reducing behaviours, which suggest similar decision-making processes for males and females. The implications of these findings with regard to the role that health beliefs and attitudes play as key predictors of the decision of whether or not to engage in self-care overweight/obesity-related behaviours are discussed.

The purpose of this project was to investigate the role of perceived parenting styles in the choice of identity processing and commitment among a group of Chinese youth. Examining the identity processing styles of 209 young people using the ISI-4 (Smits et al., 2008) and Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ; Buri, 1991), we hypothesised that parental styles and family socio-economic status would differentially impact the identity commitment of youth in Macao. The findings corroborated Berzonsky's (2004) model, with minor differences, showing a positive relation between authoritative parenting and informational processing and identity commitment. However, a negative relation between a normative processing style and identity commitment was found in the Chinese sample. Testing for the moderating effect of socioeconomic status showed that authoritative parenting combined with high SES levels lead to the informational processing style.

Taiwanese migrants who have settled in Brisbane, Australia (N = 271) completed a questionnaire battery available in both Mandarin and English. A series of multiple and hierarchical regression analyses were used to investigate the factors associated with these migrants’ acculturation and indicators of psychological wellbeing. Results indicated that various personal factors (age, English language proficiency, and duration of stay) were associated with acculturation and indicators of psychological wellbeing. Acculturation was not associated with wellbeing. Social support was associated with the indicators of the participants’ wellbeing. The outcome indicated that although associated with similar personal and environmental factors, acculturation and psychological wellbeing occurred separately. The study highlights the significance of certain personal resources and social support.

Natural disasters provide humanity with a setting in which to examine core dimensions of life. How people respond to and make sense of their experiences due to the ruptures of trauma and devastation remains vital in grief recovery. An earthquake of 8.3 magnitudes on October 29, 2009 triggered a galulolo (tsunami wave) that devastated parts of Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga. This calamity provided an ideal setting for a case study examination of how those directly impacted recovered from the devastation. In this article, the experiences of one couple in the context of Samoan grieving processes becomes the key focus. Disaster and grieving literature is examined to inform and provide interpretation to their experiences. It is through such an examination that this article seeks to makes an important contribution to understanding the complexities of loss and culturally patterned responses of Samoan people, like this couple, to disaster recovery.

Based on Pettigrew and Meertens’ Blatant and Subtle Prejudice Scale (1995), a new scale for assessing the expression of prejudice is proposed in this article. The original scale has been changed in three ways: (a) items were rewritten to avoid double assertions, (b) three new items were considered to adequately measure the ‘denial of positive emotions’ component, and (c) biased wording of the ‘cultural differences’ domain items measuring perceived cultural differences rather than prejudices was removed. We used a representative sample of 500 participants living in Antofagasta, in Chile. Confirmatory factor and a hierarchical regression analyses support the proposed new scale. This instrument provides two measures: one general measure related to the intensity of prejudice expression and a second measure indicating the presence or absence of prejudice for each component type (Rejection, Intimacy, Values, Emotions, and Culture). The scale was confirmed for both genders; 45.2% of the participants scored a medium-high to extremely high expression of prejudice towards Bolivians immigrants.

Individuals develop three types of cognitions in the aftermath of a traumatic experience: negative cognitions about the self, negative cognitions about the world, and self-blame (Foa et al., 1999). Although the relationship of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and posttraumatic cognitions has been supported in literature, memory-related responses affecting this relationship need further exploration. It was the intention of the present study to address this gap by examining the moderating role of emotional intensity of trauma memory in the relationship between posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD symptoms. In a sample of survivors of typhoon Haiyan (N = 632), one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded, it was found that in general, negative cognitions about the self and the world, but not self-blame, predict PTSD symptoms; and emotional intensity of trauma memory generally moderates the relationship between posttraumatic cognitions and PTSD. The findings of the study would be useful in the development and enhancement of interventions to help the survivors of natural disasters in maintaining their mental health and wellbeing.

A strong case can be made for adapting cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for ethnic and cultural minority groups. In North America, literature is readily available for CBT practitioners wishing to adapt their practice when working with ethnic minority groups (e.g., Latino, African-American, and Native American groups). In other countries such as New Zealand, literature of this sort is scarce, and the empirical foundation for CBT adaptation in these parts of the world is weak. This article documents the core tenets of an empirically validated CBT treatment protocol tailored for individual delivery to Māori clients suffering from depression in New Zealand and developed through consultation with an expert advisory group consisting of senior clinicians and Māori cultural experts. The result is a series of considerations for clinicians endeavouring to provide culturally responsive CBT with Māori clients, who are identified and organised into four domains. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the practical application of the proposed techniques. Links are made to international literature related to the adaptation of CBT in pursuit of cultural responsiveness.

Methods for promoting individuals’ pro-environmental behaviours are becoming very important. Besides traditional factors relevant to pro-environmental actions, few studies have examined the licensing effect within this domain. Across three studies we have explored whether the licensing effect really exists in pro-environmental behaviours, how this effect actually works, and how to inhibit or even avoid this effect. Results have revealed that previous pro-environmental behaviours lead to a decrease in subsequent pro-environmental behaviours, indicating a licensing effect. Also, the licensing effect in pro-environmental behaviours can be explained by having individuals focus on goal progress and reduced by focusing on goal commitment. Furthermore, attributional recall could be an intervention for mitigating the licensing effect.

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.

Awe is a feeling of wonder and amazement in response to experiencing something so vast that it transcends one's current frames of reference. Across three experiments (N = 557), we tested the inhibition effect of awe on aggression. We used a narrative recall task paradigm (Studies 1 and 2) and a video (Study 3) to induce the emotion of awe. After inducing awe, we first examined participants’ emotion and their sense of ‘small self’, and then the manifestation of aggressiveness in a Shooting Game (Study 1), Tangram Help/Hurt Task (Studies 2 and 3) and Aggression-IAT (Study 3), respectively. Results indicated that awe reduced aggression and increased prosociality and a sense of small self relative to neutral affect and positive emotions of happiness and amusement. Mediation analyses evidenced mixed support for a sense of small self mediating the effect of awe on aggression and prosociality.

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.

Drawing upon the moral cleanness metaphor and the power height metaphor, we proposed the clear sky effect: polluted air increases perceived corruption. To test the effect, we established a correlation (Studies 1 and 2) and causal link (Studies 3, 4, and 5) between haze pollution and corruption perception. This correlation is unique, in that, of various air pollutants, only the major haze indicator was positively correlated with corruption perception at city (Study 1) and country (Study 2) levels. In addition, recalling feelings concerning haze (Studies 3 and 5) or experiencing hazy days (Study 4) increased corruption perception. Furthermore, in support of embodiment, this effect was moderated by body awareness (Study 4) and mediated by bodily stress responses (Study 5). Taken together, these findings suggest that environmental pollution could be one of the factors that influence our trust in government.

In late 2013, the Asian Association of Social Psychology (AASP) signed an agreement with the Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology (JPRP) to annually produce one themed issue in accordance with both organisations’ missions, for a period of 5 years. For AASP, the annual publication of a themed issue on ‘The Social Psychology of Social Change: Science and Practice in Asia’ was the end result of 2 years of member consultation, undertaken by President-Elect James Liu from 2012 to 2013. This resulted in a Mission Statement, and a directive from members to develop a second publications outlet with an SSCI impact factor, but more focused on applied research, to complement AASP's eponymous flagship journal the Asian Journal of Social Psychology (which is more basic in its research orientation).