The number of Indonesian students in higher education has been increasing rapidly. However, many Indonesian university students report experiencing mental distress. Research on student wellbeing found that self-compassion (i.e., being kind towards oneself in challenging times) and academic engagement (i.e., a commitment and purposeful effort toward study) are essential to students’ mental wellbeing. With the present study, we aimed to assess the mental wellbeing of Indonesian students. A convenience sample of 156 Indonesian students completed self-report measures on mental wellbeing, self-compassion and academic engagement (consisting of vigour, dedication and absorption). To contextualise their mental wellbeing, data from Indonesian students were compared with those from 145 UK students using Welch t-tests. Correlation, regression and mediation analyses were then performed to examine the relationships among these variables. Indonesian students had higher levels of self-compassion and absorption and a lower level of dedication than UK students. Self-compassion and academic engagement explained 36% of variance in mental wellbeing. Self-compassion and vigour were identified as significant predictors of mental wellbeing, whereas self-compassion was the strongest predictor. Lastly, vigour did not mediate the pathway from self-compassion to mental wellbeing. Interventions to support self-compassion and academic engagement, especially vigour, in Indonesian students are recommended to support their mental wellbeing.

University students in the Czech Republic suffer from a low level of mental well-being. Research in other university student populations suggests that academic motivation, self-compassion, and self-criticism are strongly related to mental well-being. Students who are motivated to study, are kind toward themselves, and are less judgmental of themselves tend to have a high level of mental well-being. These relationships had not been evaluated in Czech students. Accordingly, this cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the relationships between mental well-being, academic motivation (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation), self-compassion (self-reassurance) and self-criticism (self-inadequacy and self-hate). Of 130 students approached, a convenience sampling of 119 psychology students at a university in the Czech Republic completed a survey regarding these constructs. Correlation, regression, and path analyses were conducted. Mental well-being was positively associated with intrinsic motivation and self-compassion, and negatively associated with amotivation and self-criticism. Self-compassion was identified as the strongest predictor of mental well-being. Lastly, intrinsic motivation mediated the pathway from self-compassion to mental well-being, but not the one from self-inadequacy to mental well-being, and the one from self-hate to mental well-being. Our findings can help educators to identify effective means to protect students’ mental well-being. Cultivating students’ self-compassion may be helpful to protect their mental well-being. University staff and educators in the Czech Republic need to consider ways to embed self-compassion training into their students’ programmes or university life.

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.