Professor James Liu's presentation titled 'From Social Memory to Global Consciousness: Narratives of History and Identity'.

1. From Social Memory to Global
Consciousness: Narratives of
History and Identity
Professor James H. Liu
Centre for Applied Cross Cultural Research
School of Psychology
Victoria University of Wellington
Email: James.Liu@vuw.ac.nz

2. In Globalization today:
• There are over 50,000 commercial airline flights per day,
carrying more than a billion people a year
• The total immigrant population in the world is more than 186
million
• 300,000 jobs were outsourced from the USA to other
countries in 2003. Manufacturing productivity increased by
103% from 1980 to 2002
• Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, is 73% stocked with
products from Asian (and other) developing countries
• China is now the world’s second largest economy & projected
to overtake the USA as #1 in 2027
• Is there a Global Consciousness to match the brute facts of
globalization?
• Can we identify elements of belief that we as a planet share
in common, and areas of difference to mark for better
understanding?

3. OVERVIEW- Past, Present, Future
• Representations of World History around the
Planet & their Implications for Global
Consciousness (where we came from)
• The Liberal Project and its Discontents: Bicultural
Evidence from Aotearoa/NZ (where we are now)
• The Pacific Century: Chinese Benevolent
Authority Model of Societal Organization (where
we’re going)
– What is Global Consciousness?

4. Why History?
• History is an important symbolic resource:
(1) Human Consciousness is historically contingent on
technology, mentalities, and temporal powers.
(2) It encompasses the accumulated wisdom and
knowledge from our ancestors that can be applied to
new situations. History provides traditions, values, and
symbols that are vital to the culture-specific functioning
of societies. STABILITY
(3) History is appealing as a tool for political
communications because it offers concrete events and
people with emotional resonance whose relevance to
the current situation is open to interpretation and public
debate. CHANGE
Liu & Hilton (2005) British Journal of Social Psychology

5. METHOD (Liu et al., 2005, Journal of
Cross Cultural Psychology)
• Student Samples from 6 Western nations:
Australia, N=102; France, N=102; Germany,
N=81; Great Britain, N=39; New Zealand,
N=112; USA, N=86 (only post Sept 11
sample)
• 6 Asian Samples: Hong Kong, N=123; Japan,
N=91; Malaysia, N=180 ; Philippines,
N=302; Singapore, N=201, Taiwan, N= 663
(half students, half adults)

6. Open Ended Questions used
• Write down the names of the 5 people born in the
last 1,000 years whom you consider to have had
the most impact, good or bad, on World History.
• Imagine that you were giving a seminar on world
history. What 7 events would you teach as the
most important in World History?
• Open-ended answers written in by participants and
coded.
Liu et al. 2005 Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology

7. Most Important Events in World History
according to Western Samples
Rank USA Pct Great Britain Pct France Pct
(N=82) (N=39) (N=99)
1 WW II 86% WWII 77% WWII 64%
2 WW I 50% WW I 64% French Rev 54%
3 American Indep 38% Vietnam War 28% WW I 30%
4 Sept 11 Terrorism 27% Man on the Moon 26% US History 28%
5 Discov Americas 26% Birth of Christ 26% Colonization 27%
6 Vietnam War 20% Industrial Rev 18% Atomic Bombing 20%
7 American Civil War 20% Discov. Of America 18% German Reunification 19%
8 French Rev 14% Roman Empire 18% Man on the Moon 16%
9 Birth of Christ 14% Atomic Bombing 15% Decolonization 14%
10 Breakup of USSR 12% Slavery 13% Nazism/Facism 12%
Gulf War 13%
Rank Australia Pct New Zealand Pct Germany Pct
(N=98) (N=107) (N=81)
1 WWII 68% WWII 73% WWII 68%
2 WW I 60% WW I 64% WW I 60%
3 Man on the Moon 24% Man on the Moon 37% French Rev 49%
4 Holocaust 21% Women's Suffrage 21% Discov. Americas 32%
5 Atomic Bombing 21% Birth of Christ 21% German Reunification 23%
6 Industrial Revolution 19% Industrial Rev 20% Russian Rev 23%
7 Vietnam War 18% Roman Empire & Fall 19% Cold War 21%
8 Discov. Of Australia 16% German Reunification 16% Vietnam War 20%
9 Women's Suffrage 16% Discov. Of America 16% Crusades 15%
10 Birth of Christ 15% French Revolution 15% Colonialism 15%

8. Most Important Events in World History
according to East Asian Samples
Rank Japan Pct Taiwan Hong Kong Pct
(N=75) (N=646) (N=119)
1 WWII 52% WW II 69% WWII 81%
2 WW I 29% WW I 60% WW I 52%
3 French Revolution 23% Man on the Moon 25% Tien An Men 45%
4 Industrial Rev 17% Industrial Rev 23% Sino-Japanese War 39%
5 Vietnam War 17% American Indep 22% USSR Breakup 23%
6 Cold War 12% Discov. of Americas 20% Cultural Revolution 19%
7 Crusades 11% USSR Breakup 15% German Reunification 16%
8 Atomic Bombing 9% Crusades 15% Gulf War 15%
9 Discov. of Americas 9% Renaissance 14% American Indep 14%
10 Korean War 7% French Revolution 10% French Revolution 14%
American Indep 7%
Rank Singapore Pct Philippines Pct Malaysia Pct
(N=196) (N=272) (N=145)
1 WWII 94% WWII 68% WWII 60%
2 WW I 84% WW I 54% WW I 60%
3 Gulf War 32% Gulf War 23% Industrial Rev 28%
4 Cold War 24% French Rev 16% Rise of Islam 23%
5 Great Depression 22% Industrial Rev 15% Atomic Bombing 17%
6 Industrial Rev 19% Nazism 15% Chinese history 14%
7 Vietnam War 11% Renaissance 15% Islam v.Christian Wars 13%
8 USSR Breakup 10% People Power (EDSA) 14% Opium War 12%
9 Rise of Communism 10% Atomic Bombing 13% Renaissance 12%
10 French Revolution 9% Man on the Moon 11% Japanese colonialism 11%
German Reunification 9%

11. Summary – Representations of World History
(1) History is projected backwards from the present with sample
averages of 63% of events and 72% of persons from the last 100
years
(2) A Story about politics and war (esp. WWII & Hitler, most nominated
person), accounting for 67% of events and persons.
(3) More Eurocentric than ethnocentric.
(4) Under-estimates the importance of economics and technology (&
science).
(Replicated using 12 more countries in 2009)
TRIUMPH OF ENLIGHTENMENT REASON AND LIBERAL VALUES
• The Good: Science, technology, human rights, equality, democracy &
the sovereign individual (?)
• The Contingent: Bureaucratic efficiency & economic rationalization,
the system of nation states
• The Bad: “War made the state, and the state made war” (historian
Charles Tilly).
Liu et al. (2005, 2009) Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology

12. How general is this representation?
• How about the great ancients of China and
India? Present focused as well?

13. Most Important Events in World History
China and India
Rank China (N=115) Pct Eval India (N=100) Eval
1 WW II 81% 2.0 WW II 61% 2.8
2 Found PR China 48% 5.3 9-11 WTC 49% 3.1
3 WW I 40% 2.2 Indian Independence 42% 6.3
4 Industrial Rev 36% 5.2 WW I 37% 2.8
5 Technological Dev 33% 5.5 Cold War 20% 4.0
6 Fall of Communism 24% 3.2 India-Pakistan War 18% 3.7
7 Man on Moon 20% 5.5 both World Wars 15% 2.5
8 Colonization 20% 4.3 Partition India-Pak 15% 2.6
9 Sino-Japanese War 17% 4.2 Iraq War 14% 2.7
10 Atomic Bomb 16% 3.0 Asian Tsunami 14% 2.4
10= Opium War 16% 2.2
Most Important People in Last 1000 Years
Rank China Pct Eval India Pct Eval
1 Mao 64% 4.7 Gandhi 75% 4.9
2 Hitler 58% 3.0 Hitler 61% 3.6
3 Einstein 42% 5.5 Osama bin Laden 25% 5.6
4 Marx 40% 4.7 Mother Teresa 22% 5.8
5 Deng Xiaoping 36% 5.6 Bhagat Singh 19% 6.2
6 Napoleon 28% 4.6 Shivaji Bhonsle 18% 5.8
7 Zhou Enlai 21% 5.8 Einstein 16% 5.8
8 Newton 16% 4.9 Subhas C. Bose 11% 6.8
9 Sun Yatsen 10% 5.3 Lincoln 16% 5.6
10 Confucius 10% 5.0 George Bush Jr 11% 2.0

14. Conclusions from the Past: the Historical
Basis for Global Consciousness
• Global Historical Consciousness is rooted in
forms of modernity developed and exported
from the West to other Cultures, including
democracy, the nation-state system, and
industrialization.
• We have left behind the era of Western
imperialism, but that era casts long post-
colonial shadows of inequality.

16. Indigenous Manifestations of Global Consciousness
in Aotearoa/New Zealand
• Problem with purely Western forms of Global
Consciousness is that they can’t handle fundamental
inequality between cultures and religions. So the reality
doesn’t live up to the ideals.
• Global consciousness has to be adapted to the
indigenous conditions of life. In NZ, the struggle between
Maori and Pakeha has been the defining thread of our
narratives of nationhood.
• Maori encounters with Western civilization
= Bicultural conception of NZ nationhood
that lives alongside a liberal view (Freedom,
Equality, & Fraternity).

17. 10 MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN NEW ZEALAND HISTORY
ACCORDING TO GENERAL SAMPLE OF MAORI AND
PAKEHA/NZ EUROPEANS (Liu, Wilson, McClure & Higgins,
1999
Maori (N=37) Pakeha (N=94)
1. Treaty of Waitangi 54% 1. Treaty of Waitangi 69%
2. The Land Wars 35% 2. World Wars 66%
3= Maori/Polynesian Arrival 30% 3. Maori/Polynesian Arrival 41%
3= European Arrival 30% 4. European Arrival 40%
3= World Wars 30% 5. The Land Wars 35%
6 Women’s Suffrage 19% 6. Women’s Suffrage 29%
7. Colonisation 16% 7. Arrival of James Cook 28%
8= Education Act passed pro- 14% 8. Colonisation 16%
viding free education. 9= The Depression 14%
8= NZ becomed independent state. 14% 9= 1981 Springbok Tour 14%
8= Musket Wars between Tribes 14%
8= NZ Government formed 14%
8= 1981 Springbok Tour 14%

18. How well have Maori and Pakeha/NZ Europeans
honoured the Treaty of Waitangi?
6
6
5
5
Mean Rating
4
4
Mean Rating
Maori Honour
Maori Honour
3
3 Pakeha Honour
Pakeha Honour
2
2
1
1
0
0
Pakeha
Maori
Pakeha
Maori
Respondent
Respondent Ethnicity
Ethnicity
Student Sample General Sample

19. Implicit Associations with Symbols
of National Identity

20. At the symbolic level (IAT), Maori and Pakeha are
BOTH part of the national identity

21. NZ accommodation between the Global &
Local: Symbolic but not Resource-Based
Inclusion for Maori
• NZ has a set of adaptations to manage the
fundamental inequalities between settler
and indigenous society that are impressive,
but still less than ideal.
• If NZers are all so equal in principle, how is
it that Maori form 16% of the total
population and 50% of the prison
population? How is it that Maori die 8
years younger than the NZ average?

22. Symbolic Accommodation: Support
for Biculturalism in Principle (4.9/7)
• Maori language should be taught in all New Zealand
schools
• The New Zealand national anthem should be sung in
both Maori and English.
• New Zealand should be known and seen as a bicultural
society, reflecting an equal partnership between Maori
and Pakeha.
• If New Zealand were to change to a republic, then the
Treaty of Waitangi should be used as a foundation for
our constitution.
• New Zealand should embrace it’s cultural diversity.

23. More Support for Liberal Democratic
principle of Equality & Opposition to
Resource-Based Biculturalism (5.7/7)
• We are all New Zealanders, and no one ethnic group should get
special privileges.
• It is racist to give one ethnic group special privileges, even if they
are a minority
• I feel that although Maori have had it rough in past years, they
should still be treated the same as everyone else.
• No one group should be given privileges on the basis of ethnic or
racial background
• I find the idea of giving priority or special privileges to one group
appalling, minority or otherwise

24. Historical Negation as a Legitimizing Myth for
NZ Europeans (Sibley, Liu, Duckitt, & Khan,
2008
The Historical Negation Scale Loading
Grievances for past injustices should be recognized and due compensation
.86
offered to the descendants of those who suffered from such injustices. (r)
New Zealand law needs to recognize that certain ethnic minorities have been
treated unfairly in the past. People belonging to those groups should be entitled .84
to certain benefits and compensation. (r)
I believe that I should take part in the efforts to help repair the damage to others
.83
caused by earlier generations of people from my ethnic group. (r)
We as a nation have a responsibility that see that due settlement is offered to
.82
Maori in compensation for past injustices. (r)
We should not have to pay for the mistakes of our ancestors. .81
We should all move on as one nation and forget about past differences and
.79
conflicts between ethnic groups.
It is true that many things happened to Maori people in the past that should not
have happened, but it is unfair to hold current generations of Pakeha/NZ .78
Europeans accountable for things that happened so long ago.
People who weren't around in previous centuries should not feel accountable for
.69
the actions of their ancestors.
(r) = Item is reverse scored.

25. Maybe not racist, but it does maintain
NZ European privilege through policy
preferences denying the impact of the past

26. Visioning the Future: Two models in
dialogue, one categorical, one
relational (partnership-based)
Liberalism Biculturalism
Asians Pacific Islanders
NZ Europeans
Asians
“unmarked”
Maori
Pakeha
Maori
PI

27. Inglehart & Baker’s (2000) Conclusion to 2
decades of research on the World Values
Survey
• “A history of Protestant or Islamic or
Confucian traditions gives rise to cultural
zones with distinctive value systems that
persist after controlling for the effects of
economic development… We doubt that
the forces of modernization will produce a
homogenized world culture in the
foreseeable future. (p. 49).”

28. Most nations are collectivist & hi power
distance (using relational models)

29. What Symbolic Resources and Cultural Capital do
Chinese people have in dealing with Modernity?
Gini coefficient .338 (1988), .416 (1995), .469 (2010)

30. East Asian Collectivism as Intragroup
Relations (Yuki, 2003)

31. Chinese indigenous psychology:
Ethics of Role Relations
• The Five Cardinal Relationships prescribe not only the
fundamental role relations in traditional Chinese society
(Father-Son, Ruler-Minister, Husband-Wife, Elder Brother-
Younger Brother, and Friends), but also appropriate
attitudes & norms for behaviour within these roles.
• Four of the Five roles are hierarchical, and complementary
rather than Equal; three of the prescriptions model
“benevolent paternalism” for the Father figure, and
loyalty/affection for the subordinate role.
• Traditional Chinese state as “Family writ large” with a
Confucian ideology of moral ethics married to a Legalistic
code of rewards and punishments.

32. Face & Favor: the Benevolent Authority
Model of Chinese Social Organization
• The 55 recognized ethnic minorities in Chinese
receive categorical privileges, the greatest
among which are exemptions from the 1 child
policy.
• Ethnic minorities privileges are not viewed as
categorical discrimination against the majority,
but relational favours for a junior family
member.
• Official statement of the Chinese government:
“Great assistance of the relatively more
advanced Han is extremely important in
speeding up the development of minorities.
Yet the Han have selflessly regarded this kind of
assistance as their responsibility”.
Liu (2010) Handbook of Chinese Psychology

33. Historical Affordances for Authority (Liu &
Liu, 2003) Top Down Model of Society
Professor Shu-hsien Liu
& Mrs. An-yuan Liu Guanxi

34. Benevolent Authority versus
Right Wing Authoritarianism?
• Past weighs on the Present: China is a top
down society where civil society is relatively
weak, and it takes centralized government to
get things done. N=210, ½ rural, ½ urban –
exploratory factor analysis on urban sample
• American sample of 200+ adults collected via
internet survey
• Social psychology, with its focus on
individual attitudes, is not well-equipped to
capture political dynamics of top-down
societies (Leninism)
• Benevolent Authority (Confucianism)
• Authoritarian Efficiency (Legalism)

35. Benevolent Authority: Alpha .86
China, M=3.9; .88 USA, M=2.8
我们国家的领导人为青年人树立了很好的学习榜样
The leaders in our country set a good example for young people to follow.
我们国家的领导人不尽力做事，能躲就躲
Leaders in this country try to do as little as they can get away with
我们国家的大部分领导人不贪婪、不腐败
Most of the leaders in our country are not greedy or corrupt.
我们的领导人尽职尽责
Our leaders act in responsible ways to carry out their duties.
我们国家重要人物腐败问题比较严重
Corruption is rampant among the important people in this country
我们国家的领导人关心老百姓的利益
Leading people in our country are concerned about the welfare of ordinary people.
我们国家的领导人主要关心他们自己和家人的利益
Leaders in our country are mostly concerned for their own welfare and that of their families
很少看到现在的领导人为青年人树立好的学习榜样
It is rare to see the leaders of today setting a good example for young people to follow

36. Authoritarian Efficiency: Alpha .66
China, M=4.0; .76 USA, M=3.0
为了提高效率，中国人需要中央集权
Chinese/American people need a system of command in order to be effective
如果没有中央集权，社会效率会严重降低
If there was not a strict system of command, the efficiency of society would be greatly reduced
中国人完全能够在没有中央集权的干预下管理好自己。
Chinese/Americans are perfectly capable of managing themselves without any interference from a
centralized authority.
使我们国家强大的唯一方式是每一个人都全心全意地支持我们的领导阶层
The only way to harness the strength of our country is for everyone to wholeheartedly support our
leadership
如果每个人都为自己着想并且独立行事，中国社会就会有高效率
Chinese/American society should be most effective with each person thinking for themselves and
acting independently
做成大事的最好方式是追随强势的领导者
The best way to achieve great things is to follow strong leaders
中国人过去太相信那些强势领导了，到头来却总是让自己失望
Chinese/American people in the past have put too much faith in strong leaders that have let them
down
我们不需要中央集权来命令每个人并确保大家都遵从各种规定
We don’t need a centralized authority to order everyone around and make sure they all follow the
rules

37. RWA: China Alpha .41, Mean=3.3,
USA Alpha .83, M=3.0
The real keys to the “good life” are obedience, discipline, and virtue. .798 .158 -.029 -.010
Obedience and respect for authority are the most important values
.775 -.241 -.055 .056
children should learn.
What our country really needs is strong, determined leader who will crush
.661 .250 -.025 -.488
the evil and set us on our right way again.
What our country really needs instead of more “civil rights” is a good stiff
.595 .021 .027 -.338
dose of law and order.
It is important to protect the rights of radicals and deviants in all ways. .186 .807 .004 -.187
There is no such crime to justify capital punishment. -.029 .735 -.315 -.039
The relationship of a couple living together for a long time should be
.140 -.544 -.203 -.321
treated just like marriage.
It is good that nowadays young people have greater freedom “to make
.035 .533 .220 .495
their own rules” and to protest against things they don’t like.
The withdrawal from tradition will turn out to be a fatal fault one day. .079 -.042 -.842 .097
Be virtuous and law-abiding is in the long run better for us than
-.014 .057 -.737 -.318
permanently challenging the foundation of our society.
The days when women are submissive should belong strictly in the past.
-.100 -.170 .294 .710
A “woman’s place” in society should be wherever she wants to be.
People should develop their own personal standards about good and evil
-.220 .330 -.196 .699
and pay less attention to traditional forms of guidance.

38. Benevolent Authority and Authoritarian
Efficiency are Coherent Concepts in USA, but
with less societal agreement
Mean score of 2.8 for BA, 3 for AE in a general sample
of Americans (Slightly disagree). USA ranks 22nd on
Transparency International's Corruption Index, China
much lower at 79, but Americans think of their leaders
as more corrupt than mainland Chinese.
BA not really benevolent in USA, +.21 corr with social
distance, -.12 corr w/political tolerance
Chinese have a hierarchical, top-down form of Cultural
Capital that gives societal leaders an powerful mandate
to lead. Transitional self fulfilling prophecy?
Highly coherent concepts, whereas RWA is a culture
bound syndrome of the West

39. Shu-Hsien LIU
A Height Psychology of Transitions &
Aspirations
 Indigenous Psychology must draw from its cultural
roots but should aspire to build them into a better future
based on but not limited to the historical contingencies of
the past.
 Benevolent Authority is both a description and an
ideal. Tension between the two always has characterized
Confucian philosophy
 Taiwan is a hybrid society with cultural roots in
Confucian relationalism but a recent past and future
dedicated towards establishing liberal American
institutions
 HK & Singapore’s historical meldings are with British
institutions of elite-based rule by law.

40. Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
Authority as part of Global Consciousness
• Western democracy cannot address carbon emissions and
climate change on its own. Top-down authoritarian regimes
might be more capable of enforcing sacrifice for common
good if they can live up to their own claims of benevolence.
They are both part of a global fabric for survival.

41. What is Global Consciousness?
• A form of Pluralistic Interconnectedness spanning
gulfs of religion and culture with awareness and
understanding.
– Rooted in Western forms of modernity, but capable of
taking on different forms as it fuses with alternative
cultures and religions.
– Coming to terms with two basic models of societal
organization, one new and one more ancient: liberal/social
democracy and benevolent authority
– China is a sleeping dragon. It is better to let sleeping
dragons lie. (Napoleon)
– AASP Conference 2013, Aug 20-22 Yogyakarta, Indonesia