School of Psychology staff

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Auckland campus 64 9 414 0800
Manawatū campus 64 6 356 9099
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Contact details +6492136279

Prof James Liu PhD

Professor

Doctoral Mentor Supervisor
School of Psychology

James is currently co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal Political Psychology. Previously, he was President of the Asian Association of Social Psychology from 2015-17 (see website at asiansocialpsych.org) after having previously served as AASP Secretary General and Treasurer. From 2008-2011 he was Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Journal of Social Psychology (he now serves as Senior Editor). Together with AASP President-Elect Allan Bernardo, he editted an annual Special Issue of the Journal of Pacific Rim Studies on the practice of social psychology for social change in Asia and the Pacific Rim from 2014-2018. He is accomplished in cross-cultural and indigenous psychology, having thought a lot about how Chinese philosophy and culture influences the present day psychology and practices of Chinese people today (with several article written with his father, the late neo-Confucian philosopher Shu-hsien Liu).

He is currently investigating global consciousness in culturally Chinese societies, as well as continuing research on the Digital Influence project, involving 40+ countries around the world..The Digitial Influence project involves collaboration with social psychologists from around the world. It examines a wide range of social attitudes and behaviors, including mass media usages, trust in different people and institutions, and prejudice and discrimination.

James has more than 200 refereed publications at have been cited more than 10,000 times, with edited volumes including New Zealand Identities: Departures and Destinations, Restorative Justice and Practices in New Zealand, and Progress in Asian Social Psychology, Volumes 2 and 6. He has an H-statistic of 51 according to GoogleScholar. Among his most cited papers are "Social representations of history and their role on identity politics" co-authored with Denis Hilton for the British Journal of Social Psychology, and "Distance matters: Physical space and social impact" co-authored with Bibb Latane and Andrzej Nowak in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. He is also known for several papers using large cross-cultural data sets from 12-36 countries, published mainly in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (e.g., "Social representations of events and people in world history across twelve cultures").

As Head of School of Psychology at Massey University from 2015-2017, James has introduced Research, Service, and Teaching Clusters as a means for enhancing collaboration and applied &integrated RST practice among members of his School. He has a long term vision of psychology as an applied research practice with strong community service and teaching roots.

A naturalized citizen of two countries, he describes himself as a “Chinese-American-New Zealander”.

James Hou-fu Liu is Professor of Psychology and was Head of School at Massey University in New Zealand from 2015-2017. He completed a PhD at UCLA, followed by a post-doc at Florida Atlantic University. He taught at Victoria University of Wellington for twenty years, becoming Co-Director of its Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research (2010-2014). His research is in cross-cultural, social, and political psychology, specializing in social representations of history and their relationship to identity, prejudice, and international relations. He has current interests in global consciousness, and the role of digital influence (eg social media, new media) in societal change.

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Professional

Contact details

Ph: +64 9 414 0800 ext 43279
Location: 3.52, Albany Village, School of Psychology Private Bag 102904, North Shore Auckland 0745
Campus: Albany

Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy - University of California (1992)

Certifications and Registrations

Licence, Mentor Supervisor, Massey University

Research Expertise

Research Interests

Social Representations Theory, especially Social Representations of History

Cross-cultural Psychology

Indigenous Psychology, particularly Chinese indigenous psychology and its interconnectness to other high-power distance, collectivist socieities

Digital Influence (how mass media consumption influences attitudes, values, political ideology, and behaviour, and vice versa)

Globalization

Prejudice and Intergroup Relations

Research Opportunities

Digital Influence (06/06/2015) Consumption of different forms of mass media, especially new digital forms, are influencing not only culture, but people's attitudes, values, and behavior

Thematics

21st Century Citizenship, Design – for Commerce, Community and Culture

Area of Expertise

Field of research codes
Psychology (170100): Psychology And Cognitive Sciences (170000): Social and Community Psychology (170113):
Studies In Human Society (160000)

Keywords

Social psychology, political pychology, cross-cultural psychology, collective memory, intergroup relations, trust, global consciousness

Consultancy and Languages

Languages

Chinese
Last used: today
Spoken ability: Excellent
Written ability: Excellent

Teaching and Supervision

Contact Supervisor

Graduate Supervision Statement

I supervise in the areas of social, political, and cross-cultural psychology. I hold weekly lab meetings with all my students together, and am also part of a larger research collective known as EPIC (Ending Poverty and inequality). Specifically, my students have done research projects in intergroup relations, new (social) media, collective memory, trust, and global consciousness.

Prof James Liu is available for Masters and Doctorial supervision.

Current Doctoral Supervision

Main Supervisor of:

Jinling You - Doctor of Philosophy
Factors of Problematic Use of Short-Form Video Application Among Senior High School Students
Sarah Choi - Doctor of Philosophy
A mixed method investigation of historical narratives and representations within and across cultural contexts: Implications for political culture and

Co-supervisor of:

Luyu Qiu - Doctor of Clinical Psychology
Chinese in NZ and Their Attitudes Towards and Experiences of Psychotherapy/Mental Health in NZ

Completed Doctoral Supervision