Where in the brain are the self and significant others (e.g. mother) represented? Neuroscientists have traced self-representation to the ventral medial prefrontal cortex for both Westerners and East Asians. However, significant others were represented alongside the self in the same brain area for East Asians but not for Westerners. In this experiment, Westernized bicultural Chinese were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing trait judgments that referenced the self, mother, or a non-identified person (NIP) after Western or Chinese culture priming. Consistent with Western independent self-construals and Chinese interdependent self-construals, Western priming increased, whereas Chinese priming decreased the neural differentiation of mother and NIP from self.

These findings suggest that positive psychological resources including optimism and generalized positive affect had higher impact on cortisol secretion than their negative counterparts, and point to the need for increased attention to the potential contribution of positive mental states to well-being.

This study investigated the impact of personal resilience (a composite measure of optimism, perceived control and self-esteem) on outcome measures in 67 Chinese coronary heart disease patients in response to an 8-week rehabilitation programme. The effect of personal resilience on posttraumatic growth attributed to the onset of heart disease was also examined. Results indicated that coronary heart disease patients high in personal resilience achieved better outcomes than those low in personal resilience, as indicated by higher physical and mental summary measures in SF-36, lower cholesterol levels and better performance on the 6 min walk test. Moreover, personal resilience was demonstrated to be a significant predictor of the level of posttraumatic growth although the rehabilitation programme exerted a weak mediating effect on the link between personal resilience and posttraumatic growth. Findings were discussed in relation to clinical implications of the construct of personal resilience and the intervention programme.

This study examined the utility of an adapted version of the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) to measure Chinese undergraduates' ability to bounce back from stress. The BRS together with measures tapping optimism, self-esteem, pessimism, and physical health were administered to 547 Hong Kong and 268 mainland Chinese undergraduates. The BRS was found to measure one single construct and exhibited convergent validity in both samples. Further analyses using a path analytic model showed that the BRS scores substantially mediated the link between the two positive traits (optimism and self-esteem) and physical health in the two samples. The results suggested that the BRS is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring Chinese undergraduates' ability to bounce back from stress. The implications for further research related to resilience in Chinese people are discussed.

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