Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 626 Everyone really wanted to move the work forward.
Professor Ji looked over.

He valued Professor Wu quite a bit.

After all, while cultural psychology may not occupy as high a niche within the broader field of psychology as physiological or neurological psychology, it is still a topic with a very macro-level perspective.

Research on the localization of psychology and its integration with traditional culture is also relatively easy to publish articles on.

Professor Wu rubbed his temples and frowned deeply: "I don't care what you think, I'm no longer planning to communicate with the disaster victims in the resettlement area. It's just not efficient."

He said, "Starting tomorrow, my research group will only be responsible for communicating with rescue workers and shifting our focus to 'prevention of mass hysteria' or 'intervention by rescue workers in the event of mass hysteria'."

Professor Ji was taken aback: "Professor Wu, what's going on?"

Professor Wu sighed deeply: "If they won't say it, then I'll say it—Professor Ji, we all do basic research, so we have a lot of contact with the subjects, right?"

Professor Ji nodded.

"And the elderly are a 'special group' in this regard, so collecting data from participants is very troublesome. Many times, even though we use questionnaires to collect data, we end up having to do interviews in the end—you understand, right?"

Professor Ji nodded again.

Even if Professor Ji himself doesn't do research on "geriatric psychology," he must have read related journal articles when he's looking at journals—after all, geriatric psychology is indeed a good field to publish in. When there aren't many projects available, he can find an easy topic related to the elderly and give it to his students to work on; they might even be able to publish in a Q4 core journal.

If you can't publish in a core journal, publishing a conference abstract or something will do; at least that meets the requirements for a master's degree.

However, collecting data from the elderly is indeed troublesome—just as Professor Wu said, the elderly belong to a "special group" and are classified in the same category as autism, hearing impairment, visual impairment, etc.

Professor Wu said, "I originally planned to trace the local context of the 'Dragon King' belief and the path of rumor dissemination in an attempt to understand the cultural symbol system behind the symptoms."

The research approach of cultural psychology generally focuses on exploring how specific cultural backgrounds shape an individual's psychological processes and behavioral expressions, especially how collectively shared symbol and meaning systems influence the understanding and response to trauma and stress.

“Originally, I wanted to try to work on it using the method of cultural semiotics. First, I would decode the symbols and assume that the ‘dragon scale pattern’ and ‘dragon ribbon’ are not random symptoms, but symbols with specific cultural connotations. ‘Scale’ symbolizes contact with and alienation from non-human forces, and ‘ribbon’ symbolizes binding and punishment.”

"By understanding this symbolic system, our group hopes to find intervention methods that can 'dialogue' with it, such as reconstructing it using the positive aspects of the Dragon King belief, such as 'protection' and 'rainfall'."

"If all goes well, it might provide the entire intervention team with a deep cultural understanding framework, thus avoiding cultural conflicts."

These words drew nods of approval from all the experts and teachers, including Professor Ji.

Theoretically speaking, Professor Wu should be the pillar among all the experts and teachers present regarding the manifestation of "Dragon King" as a form of "mass hysteria."

“That was a great plan, Professor Wu,” Professor Ji advised. “So how did it turn out like this, and now you’re even giving up?”

Professor Wu's lips twitched: "The plan was like this—but in reality, I took a voice recorder to chat with the elderly participants, trying to record customs and legends, and analyze the 'functions' of the Dragon King in different situations. I originally wanted to find a cultural entry point for intervention..."

Professor Wu gave a wry smile: "The result... ha!"

As he packed his things, he glanced around and casually launched a sweeping generalization.

“Professor Sun’s CBT form, Professor Li’s machine, and Professor Wang’s humanistic listening may not be able to get to the heart of the problem. Those old people really believe that the ‘Dragon King’ is doing things. They don’t understand our language and they don’t believe it. I feel like we are using the laws of physics to explain a mythological world. We are not on the same wavelength at all—at least not at this stage.”

"Our scientific explanations, whether cognitive, physiological, or humanistic, are like speaking a foreign language to them if they aren't integrated into this cultural symbol system. When I explained to an elderly person that their skin condition might be a form of collective stress response, their reaction was—"

Professor Wu imitated vividly: "'Boss, I don't understand what you're saying, but I know that if the Dragon King wants to cause you trouble, it will be much more serious than any 'reaction'!"

“If we continue, it will definitely become a very large longitudinal study, and the timeline will be very long,” Professor Wu said. “But this project is one where every second counts.”

As Professor Wu spoke, he organized the documents and had the students put them all into his briefcase: "Anyway, I have already kept the contact information of all the participants. We can deal with the cultural aspects after the disaster relief is over. At this stage, I do not plan to interfere with those elderly people anymore."

After quickly and efficiently packing his things, Professor Wu turned and left.

Professor Ji didn't even remember to reach out and say anything to persuade Professor Wu to stay before his figure disappeared.

That was incredibly disrespectful.

Professor Ji's face darkened.

The atmosphere inside the tent suddenly fell silent again, just like when Professor Ji had first arrived.

However, Professor Ji, who was the host of the meeting, still had to smooth things over and say something polite: "Well... it seems that Lao Wu has found a new direction for his work. He plans to intervene in [mass hysteria] after the disaster relief is over. Well... it's a pity. If his original plan could be implemented well, it could help our follow-up work."

“Our work can’t be postponed like Lao Wu’s, so we need to address the current issues promptly. Let’s discuss the next steps… Hmm, what’s wrong with you guys?”

Professor Ji didn't think much of it after only Professor Wu left; she was only focused on stabilizing the remaining three research groups.

But at this moment, he saw that strange, indescribable expression on the faces of all the professors.

An ominous premonition arose in his mind.

……

Professor Wu's complaints were like a needle, puncturing the balloon that was being held together with great difficulty.

Something faintly surfaced.

"The problem now... is really hard to solve. Old Ji, let me tell you the truth."

Professor Sun took a deep breath, his tone finally carrying a hint of helplessness and amusement: "Professor Wu just hit the nail on the head. I admit that our group's cognitive behavioral intervention has encountered unexpected resistance."

Seeing Professor Ji's stiff gaze, Professor Sun slowly said, "The 'Automated Negative Thinking Record Form' I designed was originally intended to guide them to conduct cost-benefit analysis, such as considering the emotional cost of 'believing in the Dragon King's punishment' and the possible relief brought by alternative explanations like 'stress response'. It is to test the authenticity of irrational beliefs and develop more adaptive thinking patterns."

“But the reality is…” Professor Sun shook his head, “The villagers are completely uninterested in this kind of abstract logical framework. Their level of education… is not very high.”

As Professor Sun spoke, his expression grew increasingly conflicted: "Actually, it's not just the elderly; there are many middle-aged people here who only have an elementary school education. Someone asked me, 'If I wish the Dragon King would give me more scales, will they really grow them?'... I didn't know how to answer that question for a moment. That person almost thought I believed in the Dragon King like him."

Professor Ji fell silent. Schools of thought involving "cognition" require a basic level of language comprehension and logical reasoning ability from the individuals being intervened with.

Faced with the current situation... it may indeed be quite perplexing.

Professor Ji paused for a moment.

However, this is not the end.

After hearing Professor Sun's complaints, Professor Wang seemed to empathize with him and began to pour out his own grievances: "The humanistic concepts of empathy and listening have good intentions. They hope to provide unconditional positive regard, create a safe space for people to vent their suppressed emotions, and spontaneously find their inner strength."

“Initially… they were indeed willing to talk, which was in line with our expectations. But problems also arose—without structured guidance, their narratives easily fell into repetitive descriptions and comparisons of symptom details…”

"Later on, some of the older people began to describe in great detail the texture of the 'dragon scales,' the rhythm of the 'tassels' wrapping around, and even exchanged their 'experiences' with each other."

“An old lady even held my hand and said to me, ‘I feel that my dragon scales become more vibrant when they are exposed to the sun, just like a real dragon?’”

Professor Wang rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on: "I think my work may have unintentionally... reinforced their focus on and identification with the symptoms, which seems to have... fueled their 'creative enthusiasm' and deviated from the direction of solving the problem."

Humanism is a school of thought that aims to inspire individuals' inner strength and help them achieve their ideal state.

But now it seems... that the villagers' ideal state was distorted.

Professor Ji's face tightened again.

He turned his head and found that Professor Li, who had placed high hopes on the field of "physiological psychology," also had a strange expression.

"Teacher Li, are you also..."

Professor Li pursed his lips, his expression much more concise: "Some elderly people think my device is a 'magical instrument,' while others think that when my device is attached to the body, it absorbs 'yang energy'..."

Professor Ji was about to speak when she heard this, intending to offer some words of comfort.

Professor Sun added from the side, "I was also watching Lao Li work on the data, and he almost got beaten up. Luckily, there were more male students in his group, and they ran away quickly."

Professor Ji fell silent.

……

With Bai Qinghua absent and himself not participating, the remaining four groups can be said to represent the full strength of the psychological intervention team.

All four groups have now suffered a major setback, with one even withdrawing entirely, which was unexpected by Professor Ji.

After all, those who can come to the disaster area to do psychological assistance projects are all well-known figures in the industry. They must have at least thirty or fifty articles on hand.

The reason they encountered so many difficulties is not because they lacked ability, but rather due to constraints imposed by objective factors.

—When conducting psychology experiments, participant selection is crucial. Most papers require participants to have "normal cognitive function" when selecting participants.

In other words, most experiments in basic psychological research involve normal people—except for certain special projects.

Even for "normal" projects, the data processing can take a long time.

Unfortunately, the current "mass hysteria" is not only a special project, but also has a tight schedule, and the situation is unfamiliar to most professors.

Professor Ji originally intended to integrate the work of these individuals to better facilitate her handling of the [mass hysteria] case...

……and many more.

Professor Ji noticed something was wrong.

He tentatively asked, "Everyone, you've just raised many issues. What are your plans for resolving these issues?"

"Or perhaps you want to apply for... a different project, like Professor Wu did?"

Everyone present was a prominent figure in the field of psychology, which meant that none of them had low emotional intelligence—and even if they did, they could compensate by acquiring knowledge in a specific area through their intelligence.

At first, they only reported good news and not bad news, seemingly to save face; but after Lao Wu stormed off, they began to pour out their grievances.

Is it really just because people can't hold it in anymore and are having a grievance session?
—Okay, part of the reason might be to take the opportunity to vent emotions, but that's definitely not the main purpose.

Professor Ji felt that her relationship with these people was definitely not one where she could simply listen to their complaints in a "chatting" manner.

really.

After listening to Professor Ji's question, the professors looked at each other.

Professor Sun, who usually collaborates with Professor Ji the most, spoke first: "Old Ji, what you're saying is true—Old Wu's work can be postponed, but we must rush to get the data in order to complete the disaster relief work."

Professor Wang, who studies humanistic medicine, nodded in agreement: "If we let this continue, we may miss the golden time for intervention for disaster victims. This cannot be delayed."

Professor Sun continued, "Our main problem now is communicating with the subjects... If I remember correctly, Professor Bai's group is very good at this, right?"

Professor Ji's face froze.

He now truly understood why this group of people were accompanying him to this meeting and why they had those strange expressions on their faces.

"Professor Bai and Weng Pingting are working on the organizational framework, right? But now that you've arrived, they must be almost finished, right? Nan Zhuren from their group, although young, seems to be quite capable." Professor Li, who works on [Physiological Psychology], succinctly got to the heart of the matter, "We want to bring them over, so... we need to make some adjustments in terms of their work."

Who needs adjustments?
Professor Ji couldn't help but say, "I can accept Bai Qinghua and Weng Pingting, but what about Nan Zhuren... are you keeping such a close eye on him too?"

None of the three professors spoke; they simply looked at Professor Ji.

(End of this chapter)