The Science of happiness

By+Eric+Daly

In the introduction to his 2004 book The Geography of Thought： How Asians and Westerners Think Differently…and Why， U.S. social psychologist Richard E. Nisbett describes how a “brilliant young student” from China prompted him to switch his focus to cultural psychology with the statement： “you know， the difference between you and me is that I think the world is a circle and you think its a line.”

For Nisbett， this perfectly illustrated the deterministic causality of Western thought versus the Asian cyclical understanding of phenomena， with entities in a constant flux that causes them to return to something resembling their original state. The students name？ Peng Kaiping， now Dean of the Tsinghua University Department of Psychology and formerly professor of psychology at University of California （UC）， Berkeley.

Sitting in his office with friend Timothy Beneke， an author， researcher and journalist， Pengs intimidating reputation precedes him. Until 2007， he was the most referenced social psychologist at the associate professor level worldwide with almost 2，000 citations to his name. Numbered among Pengs present students is Chinas first female astronaut， Liu Yang.

On March 20， International Day of Happiness， Peng gave a keynote speech at the UN headquarters in New york City， becoming the first representative of China to speak about psychology and the country on the world stage. There， he presented his study on monitoring mood changes in a population of close to 200 million subjects with a multiple of variables for each participant， representing “the largest data set in the history of psychology and probably the history of science，” according to Beneke.

The event was also a numerical blockbuster， owing to China Central Television viewing figures roughly equivalent to the studys population. This constitutes the largest single audience a psychologist has ever addressed—if only， as Peng self-deprecatingly remarked， “for five minutes.”

A history of cooperation

Peng explained that international interaction and cooperation have played a large part in psychologys Chinese history. Famed scholar Cai yuanpei， former President of Peking University， was one of the first Chinese pupils of the discipline， studying under pioneering German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt in 1911. He opened Chinas first psychology laboratory in Peking University in 1917. Peking Universitys peer Tsinghua created one of the nations first psychology departments in 1926 and was instrumental in establishing the first psychological association and scholarly journal in China.endprint

After the founding of the Peoples Republic in 1949， China switched to a Soviet-style university system that was technically oriented and psychology lay dormant for some years. In 1978， as part of normalizing relations between China and the United States， then U.S. President Jimmy Carter sent a science delegation to China led by psychologist Richard Atkinson.

When Atkinson and Peng met in 1998， the former related that late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping had asked him in conversation what he did for a living. Hearing Atkinsons response and observing the psychologists standing in the delegation， Deng became determined to reintroduce the subject in China， charging Peking Universitys Philosophy Department with the task in 1979.

The department opted for students strong in natural and social sciences. They selected a young man who had graduated top of central Chinas Hunan Province in both areas and intended to research geophysics to help alleviate the earthquakes that had so plagued his native region. After joining Peking Universitys Psychology Department， Peng went on to study in the United States in 1989， earning his postgraduate degrees from the University of Michigan， before joining the staff of UC Berkeley in 1997.

So what motivated Pengs return？ He recalled how Taiwan philanthropist and UC Berkeley alumna Cher Wan made a donation to her alma mater， hoping it would pursue cooperation with Tsinghua in certain research areas. Realizing that he could use his work to the benefit of his homeland at a critical time in its transition， Peng leapt at the opportunity.

Impressed by Tsinghuas enthusiasm， Peng agreed to become the founding chair of the universitys newly established Department of Psychology in 2008. He enlisted the help of his Berkeley colleagues Beneke and Professor Seth Roberts， a noted figure in nutrition and self-experimentation who passed away in April this year. Although Peng initially committed himself to three years， he soon found himself invested in the venture and decided to stay.

high hopes

Peng stated that he now feels as if he is “the right person in the right place at the right time.” His hopes for his department， his field and his country are widescreen in nature. He was recently part of a delegation of six psychologists traveling to the United Kingdom to advise Prime Minister David Cameron. He stated that he was both the sole Asian psychologist and the youngest among the team， which he thought apt given that his orientation is positive psychology， an area in its relative infancy that Peng hopes to develop further in his time in China.endprint

As opposed to traditional psychology， which examines pathology and mental illness， positive psychology focuses on well-being. Peng is attracted to the applicability of research findings in the field and takes a targeted scientific approach. “In some ways China has technologically pulled ahead of the United States. We can now， with great efficiency， get a very accurate snapshot of factors affecting psychological health in China， intervene and have a big impact. Big data can be used to measure the efficacy of these interventions. Intentions are good， but its the results that matter.”

Peng stated that he envisages Tsinghua becoming an international innovation center in positive psychology， using Chinas population- based advantages to engage in research on psychological health of a magnitude and sophistication unprecedented in history. In doing this， he foresees utilizing big data， virtual reality methodologies and digitized portable devices. He also describes smartphone applications that will provide motivation for workers， thus increasing their happiness and productivity.

Though he is impressed by Chinas “astounding” economic progress， Peng thinks that past a certain point， the happiness material wealth provides is limited. As he wryly remarked，“you have all of this money， I mean， and what are you going to do？ Buy all of the Guccis？”

He thinks one essential prerequisite of happiness is a sense of higher meaning and purpose and personally takes inspiration from Taoism. He posits one philosophic view of life that may benefit China is the quest to make oneself and others happy， “to be good by doing good.” He also believes that China should place more attention on the arts， literature and “beautiful things” in education and daily life. To this end， he is devising a system to evaluate creative potential in elementary schoolchildren， to aid them in achieving their full potential. “It may be grandiose， but one day， I hope China could be the center of a ‘second Renaissance，” Peng said with a smile.

As part of the Happy Cities initiative， Peng dispatched Beneke to talk to local governments across China about mental health. “I much admire the efforts of China to focus on increasing human happiness，” Beneke stated. “Ive consulted with officials from Jiangyin and Quzhou about ways they can apply scientific psychology to improve well-being. Ive found them to be very intelligent and thoughtful， and eager to do whats best for the people.”endprint

A world of difference

Beneke is fascinated by the differences between how Asians and Western people view the world. At a talk for Chinese Tsinghua graduate students， he asked attendants to draw a house， a tree and a person. Afterwards， he enquired how many people drew the objects side by side forming a scene.

There was a chorus of titters and the whole room raised their hands. Beneke explained this illustrates how Chinese people tend to look at all elements holistically and therefore tend to attribute behavior to its surrounding circumstances. Americans， he claimed， typically draw the same items apart. This indicates how they view objects， including people， in isolation and independently of their environment， so Westerners accord behavior more to innate characteristics.

Rather than seeing such deeply rooted cultural differences as a cause of conflict， Peng emphasizes the complementarity they afford. He opined that the current strength of the United States is its ability to innovate and reconceptualize while China boasts an unparalleled ability to get things done and to successfully implement strategies. Peng said cooperation between the two represents a “natural alliance.”

He then cited a little-known fact that during World War II， Chinese and American psychologists collaborated to devise personnel tests to screen paratrooper candidates in Kunming， southwest Chinas yunnan Province， where many prestigious Chinese universities had been relocated at the time. Peng said Tsinghua University intends to host a 70th anniversary celebration recognizing U.S. psychologys wartime efforts to help China in September next year and is contacting the descendants of those involved.

Describing his goals， Peng invoked the surfers of his adopted California， an image matching his Taoist leanings. “I dont want to push or chase the wave. I want to ride the wave of Chinas opening up and progress，” he said. He also jokingly referenced the well-known Chinese fable about a “foolish old man” who moved mountains. Going on his past record， however， its not inconceivable that he may do just that.endprint