Robert Chin
(Chen Yuli)
March 1918 – August 1990
July 28, 2005
4/13/2015
1
Zeitgeist and Influences
Terry Wood
4/13/2015
2
Influence of Historical
Antecedents

Chinese-American Heritage
Imperial China
 China Divided

 GuoMinDang
(Taiwan)
 Beijing
Communist Party Doctrine
 Cultural Revolution

4/13/2015
3
Zeitgeist that Influenced
Ideas




4/13/2015
Early teens--Psychology
introduced in Chinese Universities
1930—Chinese Association of
Psychological Testing
1937—Chinese Psychological
Society
30’s in General—National attention
focused on education and
language reform to modernize
China
4
Zeitgeist continued


4/13/2015
Psychology used in learning how
people learn the Chinese language
Most Chinese education and
experimental psychologists studied
at Colombia or University of
Chicago.
5
Zeitgeist Continued



4/13/2015
Psychology in China before 1949
was western
1949—National Government
moved to Taiwan and many
psychologists came to U.S.
After 1949—Chinese government
in Beijing modeled itself after
Marxist-Leninist psychology with a
philosophical base in dialectical
materialism—Pavlovianism.
6
Influential Events

WWII

Office of Strategic Services,
Counterintelligence
 Social
psychology ideas used to
combat fascism
 Many psychologist used in this way
during the war.
 1st Lieutenant – Army
 Stationed in China and U.S.
4/13/2015
7
Influential Events



4/13/2015
Racial Discrimination
Segregation
Prejudice
Holocaust in Germany
Cold War with Russia
8
Achievements and
Influences on Psychology
Devra McManus
4/13/2015
9
Academic Achievements



4/13/2015
Academic Achievements:
Columbia University
- BA in Psychology 1939
- MA in Social Psychology 1940
- PhD in Social Psychology 1943
Harvard University
- Postdoc 1947 after WWII
10
Academic Employment

Boston University Professor 32 yrs

Director Social Research Center
Chinese University Hong Kong
1971

General Editor of The Journal of
Social Issues 1959-1967
4/13/2015
11
Affiliations
4/13/2015

Society for the Psychological Study of
Social Issues (SPSSI)

American Psychological Association
(APA)

Asian-American Psychological
Association (AAPA)
12
Author



4/13/2015
Co-Authored “The Planning of Change”
with Kenneth Benne and Warren Bennis
(except 1st edition)
Book - “Psychological Research in
Communist China: 1949-1966” with his
wife, Ai-Li
Wrote prefaces and articles for The
Journal of Social Issues
13
Awards Received

Fulbright Scholar at National
Taiwan University 1963

1st to receive Distinguished
Contribution Award AAPA 1985
4/13/2015
14
Influence in Psychology

4/13/2015
Professor at Boston University
Research:
1-ethnic & minority relationships
2-society & culture
3-attitudes and political behavior
4-public opinion in China
5-personality

Nicknamed himself “Swirler”

Chin Charts
15
Experiential Learning Spring 2003 Boston
University Prof. and "President/CEO" Hilda
D. Perlitsh, Ph.D.

Perlitsh/PS367 syllabus

Written reports on your learnings "burned into your
consciousness "called

LearnBurns (LB) are intended for reflecting on your
observations and for drawing implications for behavioral
choices in organizations for yourself and others. The
concept of LearnBurns (LB) is credited to the late
Professor Robert Chin, the designer of this course.
4/13/2015
16
Organizational Theory




Influenced inquiry & practice
Application of social psychology to:
1-organizational settings
2-intergroup behavior
Founder Human Relations Center Boston University
5th Edition: The Planning of Change
Lecturer and Consultant
-
4/13/2015
People’s Republic of China
Introduced organizational theory
17
Civil Rights Legislation





4/13/2015
Journal of Social Issue (SPSSI)
Research on Intelligence Testing
-Otto Klineberg, at Columbia University
1950 SPSSI organized social scientist
-1951 Committee of Intergroup
Relations Statement aided in appellate
process with Supreme Court
1954 Footnote 11 Brown v.Board of
Education of Topeka
Workshops & Lectures on anti-Semitism
and racism
18
Brown v. Board of Ed.
Of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483
U.S. Supreme Court
Decided May 17, 1954

Whatever may have been the extent of psychological knowledge at
the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by
modern authority. 11 Any language [347 U.S. 483, 495] in Plessy
v. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected.

Segregation of white and Negro children in the public schools of
a State solely on the basis of race…To separate them from others
of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race
generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community
that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be
undone.

4/13/2015
19
Value of Work Today

Robert Chin Memorial Award (SPSSI)
- Research/Scholarship in area of child abuse
-2006 APA President Dr Koocher, recipient,
credits Chin for guidance
4/13/2015
•
Asian-American Psychology Award
•
Reference on University Syllabus
-Ohio State – Conflict Management in
Community
- Vanguard University – Managing
Organizational Conflict
20
Theory and Research
Jen Russell
4/13/2015
21
Experimentation, Research, and
Clinical Data

Dissertation
 Allport’s J-Curve Hypothesis
 Arrival times of college students to class
 Looked at shape of distributions of arrival
times
 Conformity existed in total group and in
distribution of individual averages
 Prohibitive conformity
4/13/2015
22
Experimentation, Research, and
Clinical Data

Characteristics of a good theory of change as outlined by
Chin
 Variables that are alterable
 Defines the roles of a change-agent and a client system
 Takes into account the cost of usage
 Reliable basis of diagnosing the strength and weakness
of the conditions facing the client system
 “Self-Takeoff Points”
 Can be communicated with a minimum of distortion
 Able to assess its own appropriateness for different
client systems
4/13/2015
23
Experimentation, Research, and
Clinical Data
The Planning of Change
 Section 1.1
 Outlines the history of the study of change
 Section 1.2
 3 strategies for changing
• Rational-empirical
• Re-educative and normative, or collaborative
• Coercive-power
 Section 3.1
 Interaction of environment and individual
 Texture of an environment
 Aspects of the environment that are important for change
• Means
• Patterns
• Nutriments
• Information
4/13/2015
• Feedback loops

24
Experimentation, Research, and
Clinical Data

Applied Behavioral Science and Innovation,
Diffusion, and Adoption”
 5 approaches to applied behavioral science
 “Merely basic science communicated simply
and with a minimum of jargon”
 Application of research
 Two levels of practitioners
 Link science and practice
 How knowledge is applied
4/13/2015
25
Strengths and Weaknesses of
Chin’s Theory
Weaknesses
 Way ahead of his
time
 Not a good writer
 Criticisms of his book
on research in China
 Applicability of theory
 Theory was not
innovative
 Theory not clearly
defined
 Did not meet his own
4/13/2015
criteria


Strengths
 Way ahead of his time
 Excellent motivator
 Complexity of his writings
and his theory
26
Personal Obstacles and
Integrated Summary
Patty Byrd
4/13/2015
27
His Childhood
4/13/2015

Born to an immigrant father from
Toishan, China

Lacked Chinese-American
influence

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
28
Lack of
Acknowledgement

Worked closely with Otto Klineberg

Professor Len Saxe reported “he
was not a writer”

Primary method for conveying his
ideas was teaching
4/13/2015
29
Where did he fit in?

American name: Robert Chin

Chinese name: Chen Yuli

Attempted to share his
organizational theory with China

His theory went against the
Communist Party Doctrine of the
time
4/13/2015
30
Accomplishments
4/13/2015

President of SPSSI

Assisted in founding the AAPA

Co-founded the Human Relations
Center at Boston University

Co-Authored the book: The
Planning of Change
31
In Conclusion: His Goals

Resolve problems between racial, religious, and
national groups

Inspire students and society to rethink cultural
problems

Encourage people to evaluate themselves and
possibly make changes
4/13/2015
32