Cross-cultural psychology evaluates how cultural factors influence people’s behaviour and mental processes. Cross-cultural psychology aims to understand individual differences and commonalities, and to develop an appreciation, respect, and knowledge of cultures distinct from one’s own. Compassion refers to the emotional response of understanding, empathising with, and desiring to alleviate or reduce the suffering or distress of others. Compassion involves noticing the pain or difficulties another person is experiencing and being motivated to help, often characterised by acts of kindness, support, and caring. This entry paper explores the intersection of these two concepts, illustrating how insights from cross-cultural psychology can contribute to fostering compassion.

The unprecedented and uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic have changed our lifestyles significantly, with lockdowns and social distancing measures in place to reduce virus transmission. These changes have likely had a negative effect on our wellbeing, and have been associated with increased stress, anxiety, and depression. During these unforeseen times, online martial arts lessons have highlighted the possibilities that martial arts offer in regard to positive wellbeing benefits such as self-awareness and self-mastery in managing and dealing with health issues. This short paper examines the potential benefits martial arts training may provide as an alternative wellbeing strategy to counter challenges associated with COVID-19.

Negative attitudes and shame towards mental health problems are detrimental to mental health. An established measure for mental health attitudes and shame is the Attitudes Towards Mental Health Problems Scale (ATMHPS), comprising 35 items. This comprehensive instrument evaluates Community/Family Attitudes, Community/Family External Shame, Internal Shame, and Family/Self Reflected Shame. One weakness of the ATMHPS is its length. The present study constructed and validated a shorter version of the ATMHPS (SATMHPS), comprising 14 items. Samples of UK university students (274 business and 301 healthcare students) were recruited, and analyses were performed to construct and validate the factorial structure. The SATMHPS demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency, and very strong correlations with the original ATMHPS in both samples. Confirmatory factor analyses on the SATMHPS replicated the seven-factor model identified in the original ATMHPS. The SATMHPS can be a reliable, valid and user-friendly instrument to measure attitudes and shame towards mental health problems.

This short report presents an international research group, Research Ensemble for Advancement in Cross-cultural Healthcare (REACH). REACH is an independent research group, and no one is paid to do research for REACH. All members participate because they are intrinsically motivated to pursue cross-cultural healthcare. REACH consists of 28 healthcare workers and educators from 13 countries, researching about cross-cultural issues in healthcare (18 publications on average per year as of February 2024). REACH is multi-disciplinary, synthesising knowledge from areas such as cross-culture, mental health, psychotherapy, psychology, nursing, disabilities, education, and organisational management. We anonymously asked ourselves what the strengths and challenges of REACH were, and thematically analysed the input. Strengths were a sense of community and growth. Challenges were different time zones and practices. We hope our insights will help international researchers organise an international research group.

Yozan Uesugi was a Daimyo (feudal lord) who governed an area called Yonezawa in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan from 1767 to 1823. Yonezawa was originally an impoverished provincial government which under his leadership regained a healthy financial status. His leadership style was unique among Daimyos, yet respected and regarded as an ideal by many including President John F. Kennedy. One of the characteristics of Yozan’s leadership was he demonstrated what he expected his people to do, instead of just telling them what to do. Despite the power and status as a Daimyo, he lived a thrifty life as he expected his people to do. In this perspective paper, we discuss Yozan’s leadership from Organisational and Emotional Psychological perspectives. More specifically, we introduce servant leadership, intrinsically motivated leadership, the Emotional Regulatory Systems of Compassion-Focused Therapy, and Zen philosophy. Lastly, we discuss his leadership from a beyond WEIRD perspective, relating to a Japanese well-being concept, ikigai, roughly translated as reason for living. By discussing Yozan’s leadership through those lenses, we offer possible relationships among those seemingly different theoretical domains.