4 Aug 2016

James Liu: What is NZ's national character?

From Nine To Noon, 10:09 am on 4 August 2016

What are New Zealand values? And is there such a thing as the New Zealand national character?

James Liu

James Liu Photo: supplied

Why does the tide appear to be turning against migrants in many countries around the world, towards closed borders, and a harking back to the "good old days”?

Professor James Liu is the head of Massey University's School of Psychology is  a Chinese-American New Zealander.

He was born in Taiwan, the son of mainland Chinese parents, who he calls the “flotsam and jetsam” of the Chinese civil war.

His father was a Chinese philosopher, the family moving to Southern Illinois in the 1960s.

Professor Liu moved to this country more than 20 years ago, where New Zealand's bi-cultural backbone struck him as a cornerstone of the kiwi way.

His research is in cross-cultural, social and political psychology as well as global consciousness and the influence of the digital age.

Professor Liu talks to Kathryn Ryan.