Speaker and topic introduction
Keynote Speakers
10/21 (Sat.) 09:00-10:00
Keynote Speech (1) Organizational Behavior Research in Taiwan: Routes and Transformation
Prof. Bor-Shiuan Cheng
Organizational Behavior (OB) research in Taiwan has spanned over half a century, inviting reflection on the reasons behind various research routes chosen and the innovations and transitions therein. In the early days, many researchers believed that there was only one path to modernization, necessitating learning from the knowledge of the United States and Western Europe while adopting a stance of cultural neutrality. They believed that the principles of OB should apply universally and actively sought to import and imitate foreign concepts. Consequently, following an emulative path became fashionable, despite some researchers already pointing out the contingency nature of OB and the importance of considering contextual factors. Under this line of thought and with East Asia's impressive economic performance, a route of cross-cultural comparison gained attention. The aim was to examine whether Taiwanese OB differed from Western perspectives and to test the cross-cultural applicability of Western theories. However, this approach was insufficient in capturing the culturally embedded aspects of OB. Therefore, under the influence of the indigenous psychology movement, an indigenous exploration route was initiated, filling the gap of a lack of an Eastern perspective in OB research. Subsequently, a path of integrating Eastern and Western perspectives through global dialogue was pursued, making OB thinking more universally applicable yet regionally specific. Apart from these paths, addressing practical problems remains the ultimate goal of OB research. Hence, an action-oriented route is necessary, employing action research to assist practical management and ascertain the practical utility of theories. After becoming adept in various research routes, a comprehensive and cyclically detailed examination of OB knowledge becomes essential. Through the process of exploration, development, and practice, one can grasp both theory and practice, ideation and evidence, and the scholarly and helping objectives, ultimately enhancing human well-being and propelling organizations towards sustainability.
Most non-Western scholars view the Indigenous psychology movement as a global intellectual endeavor aimed at resisting the long-standing knowledge hegemony of mainstream Western psychology concerning human psyche and behavior. However, besides challenging the dominance of Western mainstream psychological knowledge, the fundamental question for non-Western scholars is why there is a need to construct indigenous theories or conduct indigenous research. The answer to this question often lies in the fact that existing mainstream Western psychological theories and concepts fail to adequately explain or elucidate the local psychological and behavioral phenomena observed or intended to be explicated within other cultures. Constructing indigenous (new) theories or concepts, therefore, becomes the optimal solution to describe the observed local psychological and behavioral phenomena in the most fitting manner. In other words, local psychological and behavioral phenomena are grounded in the real world and require exploration and clarification, rather than forced application of existing Western mainstream theories and concepts for interpretation. Since the observation of local psychological and behavioral phenomena serves as a basis for constructing theories and concepts in academia, researchers who fail to capture the subtle differences of specific phenomena or behaviors across different cultures may not realize the need for creating indigenous theories or concepts to account for their variations. Based on the exploration of the real-life world, the Indigenous psychology movement represents a "continuous development process of knowledge innovation." The primary method frequently used to construct indigenous theories or conduct indigenous research is the emic approach, meaning the interpretation of psychological and behavioral phenomena in a specific culture through the perspective of insiders. The goal of the emic perspective is to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the psychological and behavioral phenomena within the studied culture through an anthropological-like cultural immersion experience. This presentation will further differentiate two distinct approaches: the reflective emic approach and the reflexive etic approach, and elaborate on how these two approaches are applied in the construction of indigenous psychological theories from a global perspective. As aspiring indigenous psychologists, one must be able to integrate multiple paradigm perspectives, adjust existing theories in response to changing social and cultural contexts, and continuously deepen theories to meet the demands brought about by global contextual changes.
10/22 (Sun.) 10:40-11:40
Keynote Speech (2) Constructing Indigenous Psychological Theories from a Global Perspective: Two Epistemological Shifts
Prof. Kuang-Hui Yeh
The purpose of this presentation is to elucidate the emotional responses and psychological needs for "closure" among survivors of random homicide cases (two families of deceased victims and one surviving victim) when facing the publicization of death events. The first focus invites the interviewees to share their emotional states when confronted with sudden death or near-death experiences, leading to the identification of six emotional states. However, how do the survivors respond to such emotions? The speaker contends that it is related to the type of death, hence the second focus analyzes different types of deaths. Generally, deaths are mostly considered family or private events (e.g., diseases, natural deaths, family conflicts, suicide). Nevertheless, there are also public events (e.g., war casualties, public accidents) that, once they become publicized, turn into societal symbols where individuality of the deceased and survivors vanish. Taking homicide cases as an example, official statistics reveal that seventy percent of homicides involve acquaintances, which can be traced to some extent. However, in random homicide cases, although murder remains a legal requirement, the death is inevitably publicized. The third focus will explore how survivors cope with the publicization of the deaths of their relatives. In addition to trauma, compensation, consolation support, judicial verdicts, and social justice, the speaker proposes another psychological need to respond to public death, which is termed "closure." This refers to the necessity of responding even when knowing that it may be impossible to find answers for the reasons behind the killings. Finally, examining survivors' social lives and the degree of emotional recovery across the six emotional states, it is found that regardless of the response method, better recovery is associated with some corresponding actions. However, due to the public symbolization of the death event, the psychological wounds of the survivors can be constantly reminded by society.