Department of Psychology

• Culture and Creativity
• Norms and behaviors
• Learning processes and learning outcomes

My primary research goal is to use culture to understand and explain everyday behaviors, including creativity, social norms, and learning behaviors and outcomes. For example, I seek to use cultural theories to understand the creative process in innovative teams. Aside from that, I also apply what I learnt in my work to improve group creativity in educational settings and beyond. Secondly, my research also focuses on understanding how cultural norms can affect the decision-making processes including attitudes formation, change, and its implications on our behaviors. For example, how does cultural norms affect our environmental attitudes and behavior? How can we promote people’s behavioral change via changing societal norms? Lastly, I also seek to understand how creativity can be used to apply to improve learning motivations and learning outcomes across different learning mediums such as face-to-face learning and online learning.

Edited Book

• Kwan, L. Y. Y., Leung, A. K. Y, & Liou, S (2018). Special Issue Editor on Multicultural Experiences and Creativity, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
• Leung, A. K. Y, Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Liou, S (Eds.) (2018) Handbook of Culture and Creativity: Basic Processes and Applied Innovations. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780190455675

Creativity and Innovation

• Chiu, C. Y., & Kwan, L. Y. Y. (in-press) National and Historical Variations in Innovation Performance: A Country Level Analysis. In Leung, A. K. Y, Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Liou, S (Eds.), Handbook of Culture and Creativity: Basic Processes and Applied Innovations. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190455675.003.0004
• Kwan, L. Y. Y.,& Chiu, C. Y. (in-press) Cultural Diversity (Fractionalization) and Economic Complexity: Effects on Innovation Performance and Human Development. In Leung, A. K. Y, Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Liou, S (Eds.), Handbook of Culture and Creativity: Basic Processes and Applied Innovations. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190455675.003.0005
• Leung, A. K. Y., Kwan, L. Y. Y. & Liou, S. (in-press) Introduction Frontier Research on Culture and Creativity: An Overview. In Leung, A. K. Y, Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Liou, S (Eds.), Handbook of Culture and Creativity: Basic Processes and Applied Innovations. New York: Oxford University Press. doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190455675.001.0001
• Kwan, L. Y. Y. (2018). Institutional and Value Support for Cultural Pluralism Is Stronger in Innovative Societies with Demanding Climate. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(2), 323-335. doi.org/10.1177/0022022117746773
• Kwan, L. Y. Y., Leung, A. K. Y., & Liou, S. (2018). Culture, Creativity, and Innovation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 49(2), 165–170. doi.org/10.1177/0022022117753306
• Chiu, C. Y., Liou, S., & Kwan, L. Y. Y. (2016) Institutional and cultural contexts of creativity and innovation in China. In A. Lewin, M. Kenney., & J. Murmann (Ed.), China’s innovation challenge: Overcoming the middle-income trap (pp. 368-394). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316422267.015
• Liou, S., Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Chiu, C. Y. (2016) Historical and Cultural Obstacles to Frame-Breaking Innovations in China. Management and Organization Review, 12(1), 35-39. doi.org/10.1017/mor.2016.3
• Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Chiu, C. Y. (2015). Country variations in different innovation outputs: The interactive effect of institutional support and human capital. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36(7), 1050-1070. doi.org/10.1002/job.2017
• Kwan, L., Y. Y., & Chiu, C. Y. (2015) Cross-national differences in eminent (Big-C) and profound innovation (Big-I): The role of institutions and innovation input. Journal of Organizational Behavior.
• Leung, A. K. Y., Kwan, L., Liou, S., Chiu, C. Y., Qiu, L., & Yong, J. C. (2013, June). The role of instrumental emotion regulation in the emotions-creativity link: How worries render neurotic individuals more creative. Emotion, 14(5), 846. doi.org/10.1037%2Fa0036965
• Li, C., Kwan, L. Y. Y., Liou, S., & Chiu, C.Y. (2013). Culture, group processes, and creativity. In M. Yuki, & M. Brewer (Eds.), Culture and group processes, 143-165. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199985463.003.0007
• Chiu, C. Y., Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Liou, S. (2013). Culturally motivated challenges to innovations in integrative research: Theory and solutions. Social Issues and Policy Review, 7(1), 149-172. doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-2409.2012.01046.x
• Chiu, C. Y., & Kwan, L. Y. Y. (2010). Culture and creativity: A process model. Management and Organization Review, 6(3), 447-461. doi.org/10.1111/j.1740-8784.2010.00194.x

Cultural norm and decision process

• Chiu, C. Y., & Kwan, L. Y. Y. (2016). Globalization and psychology. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8, 44-48. Kwan, L. Y. Y. (2016). Anger and perception of unfairness and harm: Cultural differences in normative processes that justify sanction assignment. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 19(1), 6-15. doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12119
• Chiu, C. Y., & Kwan, L. Y. Y. (2015). Coevolution of Market Integration and Fairness Norms. PsycCRITIQUES, 60(4). doi.org/10.1037/a0038587
• Kwan, L. Y. Y., Yap, S., & Chiu, C. Y. (2015). Mere exposure affects perceived descriptive norms: Implications for personal preferences and trust. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 127, 48-58. doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.12.002
• Kwan, L. Y. Y., Chiu, C. Y., & Leung, A. K. Y. (2014). Priming Bush (vs. Obama) increases liking of American brands: The role of intersubjectively important values. Social Influence, 9(3), 206-223. doi.org/10.1080/15534510.2013.811441
• Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Hong, Y. Y. (2013). Culture, Group Processes, and Trust. In M. Yuki & M. Brewer (Eds.), Culture and Group Processes (pp. 93-117). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199985463.001.0001

Culture and decision processes

• Kwan, L. Y.-Y., & Li, D. (2016). The exception effect: How shopping experiences with local status brands shapes reactions to culture-mixed products. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47(10), 1373-1379. doi.org/10.1177/0022022116670262

• Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Chiu, C. Y. (2014). Holistic Versus Analytic Thinking Explains Collective Culpability Attribution. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 36(1), 3-8. doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2013.856790

• Chiu, C. Y., Kwan, L. Y. Y., Li, D., Peng, L., & Peng, S. (2014). Culture and consumer behavior. Foundations and Trends in Marketing, 7(2), 109-179. ISBN: 978-1601988249

• Chiu, C. Y. , Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Liou, S. (2013). Professional cultures. In A. B. Cohen (Ed.), Culture reexamined: Broadening our understanding of social and evolutionary influences (pp. 11-30). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. ISBN: 978-1-4338-1587-4

• Wan, F., Kwan, L. Y. Y., Chattopadhyay, A., Fazel, H., & Chiu, C. Y. (2012). Compliments Made Me Bolder: The Role of Self Construal and Brand Status in Brand Attachment and Product Evaluation. In Z. Gürhan-Canli, C. Otnes, & R. Zhu, ACR North American Advances, 40, 970-971. Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research. Link

• Tong, Y. Y., Hui, P. P., Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Peng, S. (2011). National feelings or rational dealings? The moderating role of procedural priming on perceptions of cross-border acquisitions. Journal of Social Issues, 67(4), 743-759. doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2011.01725.x

• Yang, D. Y. J., Chiu, C. Y., Chen, X., Cheng, S. Y., Kwan, L. Y. Y., Tam, K. P., & Yeh, K. H. (2011). Lay psychology of globalization and its social impact. Journal of Social Issues, 67(4), 677-695. doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2011.01722.x

• Masuda, T., Gonzalez, R., Kwan, L. Y. Y., & Nisbett, R. E. (2008). Culture and aesthetic preference: Comparing the attention to context of East Asians and Americans. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(9), 1260-1275. doi.org/10.1177/0146167208320555

• Chiu, C. Y., Leung, A. K. Y., & Kwan, L. Y. Y. (2007). Language, cognition, and culture: Beyond the Whorfian hypothesis. In S. Kitayama & D. Cohen (Eds.), The Handbook of cultural psychology, 668-688. New York, NY, US: Guilford Press. Link