Paul T. P. Wong was a Canadian clinical

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

and professor. His research career has gone through four stages, with significant contributions in each stage: learning theory, social cognition, existential psychology, and

positive psychology Positive psychology is the scientific study of conditions and processes that contribute to positive psychological states (e.g., contentment, joy), well-being, Positive psychology of relationships, positive relationships, and positive institutio ...

. He is most known for his integrative work on death acceptance, meaning therapy,Wong, P. T. P. (2015)
Meaning therapy: Assessments and interventions
''Existential Analysis, 26''(1), 154-167. and

second wave positive psychology Second-wave positive psychology (PP 2.0) is a therapeutic approach in psychology that attempts to bring out the best in individuals and society by incorporating the dark side of human existence through the dialectical principles of yin and yang.Iv ...

(PP 2.0).Wong, P. T. P. (2011)
Positive psychology 2.0: Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life
''Canadian Psychology, 52''(2), 69-81''.'' He has been elected as a fellow for both the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

and the

Canadian Psychological Association The Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) is the primary organization representing psychologists throughout Canada. It was organized in 1939 and incorporated under the Canada Corporations Act, Part II, in May 1950. Its objectives are to imp ...

. Wong is the Founder and President of the International Network on Personal Meaning and Editor-in-Chief of the ''International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy''. With more than 300 publications in journals and book chapters, his major books are the two editions of ''The Human Quest for Meaning: A Handbook of Psychological Research and Clinical Applications'' (1998) and ''The Human Quest for Meaning: Theories, Research, and Applications'' (2012), as well as ''The'' ''Handbook of Multicultural Perspectives on Stress and Coping'' (2006). Wong was adjunct professor at

Saybrook University Saybrook University is a private university in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1971 by Eleanor Camp Criswell and others. It offers postgraduate education with a focus on humanistic psychology. It features low residency, master's, and ...

and Professor Emeritus of

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Founded in 1964, the university is known for its Oxbridge college system, sma ...

and

Trinity Western University Trinity Western University (TWU) is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts university with campuses in both Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley and Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia. The ...

. At the latter, he was the Founding Director of the Graduate Counselling Psychology Program. He also taught at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, and the Graduate Division of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. He died in October of 2024.

Personal life

Wong was born in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1937 and migrated to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

in 1948. He came to Canada as an international student in 1961, earning his B.Th. from the Toronto Bible College (now

Tyndale University College and Seminary Tyndale University is a Canadian Private university, private Interdenominationalism, interdenominational Evangelicalism, evangelical Christian university in Toronto, Ontario, which offers undergraduate and graduate programs. Tyndale students co ...

) in 1964 and B.A. in Honours Psychology from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

in 1967. In 1970, he earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the

. Wong's career straddles two domains: psychology and Christian ministry. He first served as the Founding Pastor of the Chinese Gospel Church in Toronto in the early 1960s, and then started the Peterborough Chinese Christian Fellowship in the 1970s while teaching at

. He was involved in resettling the boat people in the 1980s. Afterward, he founded the graduate program in counselling psychology at

in the early 1990s. During his tenure, he started a neighbours-together program and received a Cultural Harmony Award from VanCity for his community outreach.

Research

Wong's research career has covered several domains in psychology: learning theory, social cognition, existential psychology, and positive psychology.

Learning theory

Wong's first decade of research in the area of animal learning focused on how to develop persistence in animals in spite of frustration or pain. Through a variety of intermittent reinforcement and punishment schedules, he taught animals persistence in overcoming prolonged failure. This series of research provided an animal model of the positive psychology of

optimism Optimism is the Attitude (psychology), attitude or mindset of expecting events to lead to particularly positive, favorable, desirable, and hopeful outcomes. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is Is the glass half empty ...

and grit as well as the empirical basis for his deep-and-wide hypothesis of negative situations.Wong, P. T. P. (2012)
Toward a dual-systems model of what makes life worth living
In P. T. P. Wong (Ed.), ''The human quest for meaning: Theories, research, and applications'' (2nd ed., pp. 3-22). New York, NY: Routledge. His research on persistence has also led to Rosenbaum's development of learned resourcefulness.

Social cognition

In the area of social cognition, Wong's main contribution was the demonstration of spontaneous attribution, both causal and existential. As well, Wong demonstrated that internal and external control are two separate dimensions rather than opposite poles on the same continuum. This finding later led to the development of the dual-system model of adaptation and the dialectical approach to positive psychology.Wong, P. T. P. (2016)
Chinese positive psychology revisited
''International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy'', ''6''(1). Wong's main contribution to stress and

coping Coping refers to conscious or unconscious strategies used to reduce and manage unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviors and can be individual or social. To cope is to deal with struggles and difficulties in life. It ...

research is the resource-congruence model and the Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM).Peacock, E. J., & Wong, P. T. P. (1990)
The Stress Appraisal Measure (SAM): A multidimensional approach to cognitive appraisal
''Stress Medicine, 6'', 227-236. Wong also made the case that effective coping needs to be a part of positive psychology in his second wave of positive psychology (PP 2.0).Wong, P. T. P., & Wong, L. C. J. (Eds.). (2006). ''Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping''. New York, NY: Springer. In the area of positive aging and dying, Wong redirected the concept of successful aging from an emphasis on physical and biological factors to a psychological and spiritual orientation. Wong also developed the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R), which includes three kinds of death acceptance as positive ways to cope with the reality of death.Wong, P. T. P., Reker, G. T., & Gesser, G. (1994)
Death Attitude Profile – Revised: A multidimensional measure of attitudes toward death
In R. A. Neimeyer (Ed.), ''Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation, and application'' (pp. 121-148). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis.

Existential psychology

Wong developed a pluralistic and integrative meaning therapy.Wong, P. T. P. (2012)
From logotherapy to meaning-centered counseling and therapy
In P. T. P. Wong (Ed.), ''The human quest for meaning: Theories, research, and applications'' (2nd ed., pp. 619-647). New York, NY: Routledge. Based on

Viktor Frankl Viktor Emil Frankl (; 26 March 1905 – 2 September 1997) was an Austrian neurologist, psychologist, philosopher, and The Holocaust, Holocaust survivor, who founded logotherapy, a school of psychotherapy that describes a search for a life's mean ...

’s

logotherapy Logotherapy is a form of existential therapy developed by neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. It is founded on the premise that the primary motivational force of individuals is to find meaning in life. Frankl describes it as "the Third V ...

, meaning therapy also incorporates

cognitive behavioral therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on challenging and chang ...

, positive psychotherapy, and research findings on meaning and purpose. Wong's main conceptual contribution to meaning therapy is identifying four components of meaning: Purpose, Understanding, Responsible Actions, and Enjoyment/Evaluation (the PURE model). Meaning therapy interventions focus on

self-transcendence Self-transcendence is a personality trait that involves the expansion or evaporation of personal boundaries. This may potentially include spiritual experiences such as considering oneself an integral part of the universe. Several psychologists, in ...

, such as reframing bad situations into some larger meaningful context and pursuing some life goal that is larger than oneself. Currently, he is a Virtue Scholar of the collaborative working group on Virtue, Happiness, and the Meaning of Life, funded by the

John Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a Philanthropy, philanthropic organization founded by John Templeton in 1987. Templeton became wealthy as a Contrarian investing, contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in relig ...

Positive psychology 2.0

Wong's integration of existential psychology with positive psychology resulted in Existential Positive Psychology, which recognizes the existential concerns and dark side of human existence. Later, this was broadened to become the second wave of positive psychology (PP 2.0), which acknowledges the importance of the dialectical Yin-Yang principle and Asian indigenous psychology. PP 2.0 is based on the foundation of the co-existence of opposites as essential for human development and flourishing. Wong has given positive psychology away through his Meaningful Living

MeetUp Meetup, headquartered in New York City, is a social media platform and social networking service for hosting and organizing in-person and virtual activities, gatherings, and events for people and communities of similar interests, hobbies, and pro ...

group since 2011. Participants learn basic principles of meaning and new ways of relating to each other. This outreach program was intended to improve mental health at the grassroots level.

International psychology

Wong's contribution to

cross-cultural Cross-cultural may refer to: *cross-cultural studies, a comparative tendency in various fields of cultural analysis *cross-cultural communication, a field of study that looks at how people from differing culture, cultural backgrounds communicate * ...

and international psychology is threefold. The first was his emphasis on the importance of cross-cultural perspectives in stress and coping and positive psychology.Wong, P. T. P., & Ujimoto, K. V. (1998)
The elderly: Their stress, coping, and mental health
In L. C. Lee, & N. W. S. Zane (Eds.), ''Handbook of Asian American psychology'' (pp. 165-209). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. In addition, he has been organizing the Biennial International Meaning Conference since 2000. At the ninth Biennial International Meaning Conference, he organized the first Second Wave Positive Psychology Summit. His research on death acceptance and the meaning of life impacted Taiwan's Life and Death Education.Chang, S-M. (2016). The development and implementation of life education in Taiwan: A meaning-centered positive education. ''Meaning Conference.'' Retrieved from http://meaning.ca/conference/shu-mei-chang/ He has given lecture tours in Taiwan and was awarded the 12th Global Love of Life Medal from the Chou Ta-kuan Cultural & Educational Foundation, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Life Education by the National Taipei University of Nursing and Health, and the Rising Great Compassion Award from the Buddhist Lotus Hospice Care Foundation.

Selected publications

Wong has published over 300 articles and chapters and authored or edited 11 books and monographs. The following is a selected list of his most cited papers. * Wong, P. T. P., & Weiner, B. (1981). When people ask “Why” questions and the heuristic of attributional search. ''Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40''(4), 650–663. ited by 1133ref name=":3"> * Reker, G. T., & Wong, P. T. P. (1988). Aging as an individual process: Towards a theory of personal meaning. In J. E. Birren, & V. L. Bengston (Eds.), ''Emergent theories of aging'' (pp. 214–246). New York, NY: Springer. ited by 525ref name=":3" /> * Reker, G. T., Peacock, E. J., & Wong, P. T. P. (1987). Meaning and purpose in life and well-being: A life-span perspective. ''Journal of Gerontology, 42'', 44–49. ited by 483ref name=":3" /> * Wong, P. T. P., Reker, G. T., & Gesser, G. (1994). Death Attitude Profile – Revised: A multidimensional measure of attitudes toward death (DAP-R). In R. A. Neimeyer (Ed.), ''Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation, and application'' (pp. 121–148). Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis. ited by 453ref name=":3" /> * Wong, P. T. P. (1998). Implicit theories of meaningful life and the development of the Personal Meaning Profile (PMP). In P. T. P. Wong, & P. Fry (Eds.), ''The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications'' (pp. 111–140). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. ited by 368ref name=":3" />

Selected awards and honors

* 1981–1986, member of the Behavior/Biological Review Panel in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Washington, DC. * 1994–1997, member of the National Advisory Council on Aging, an advisory body to Canada's Minister of Health in Ottawa, ON. * 1999, recipient of the Statue of Responsibility Award from the Viktor Frankl Institute of

Logotherapy Logotherapy is a form of existential therapy developed by neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. It is founded on the premise that the primary motivational force of individuals is to find meaning in life. Frankl describes it as "the Third V ...

Vienna, Austria. * 2002, the Board of Governors at

established the Paul Wong Center for Research in Counselling Psychology. * 2008, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Network on Personal Meaning, Toronto, ON. * 2013, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Life Education at the National Taipei University of Nursing and Health, Taiwan. * 2016, recipient of the Carl Rogers Award presented by the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32) of the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Paul T. P. Canadian psychologists Positive psychologists Canadian psychotherapists Existential therapists Academic staff of Trent University Academic staff of Trinity Western University University of Toronto alumni 1937 births Chinese emigrants to Canada Educators from Tianjin Living people