It is with profound shock and sadness that we share the news that Professor Li Liu, President of the Asian Association of Social Psychology, passed away due to illness on October 29, 2025 at the age of 62.
Professor Liu was born in November 1962 in Hailar, Inner Mongolia. He graduated from Beijing Normal University in 1987 and stayed on to teach. From 1996 to 2003, he was dispatched to study abroad, earning a doctorate in Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE). He went on to serve as Professor of Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology at Beijing Normal University, serving in major organizational roles at the university and beyond. Throughout his life, Professor Liu was committed to education, held himself to high standards, and approached his scholarly work with rigor and precision. He dedicated his efforts to the advancement of psychology and education in China and Asia.
Professor Liu had been an unflagging and influential supporter of the Asian Association of Social Psychology. In his Presidential Address at our July 2025 conference, he noted that his journey with AASP began with his 2011 role as Conference Chair for the 9th Biennial Conference held in Kunming, China. His professional leadership roles within the organization included serving as President Elect from 2023 to 2025, Secretary General from 2015 to 2019, Regional Representative for East Asia from 2013 to 2015, and Representative-at-Large for China from 2011 to 2013. In addition to his organizational contributions, Professor Liu has made significant scholarly impacts on our association as a journal editor. He was instrumental in forging collaborative relationships between AASP and the Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, for which he served as Co-Editor-in-Chief since 2015. He also served as a Special Issue Editor for the Asian Journal of Social Psychology in 2010, and served on the editorial board from 2014 to 2024.
Professor Liu made outstanding research contributions on important social psychological issues. Inspired by Kurt Lewin’s insight into social psychology as a science of bridging the gap between theory and social reality, at the time of his passing he was actively conducting research in the areas of intergroup relations (including human-robot relations, international relations, and discrimination against minority groups) and corruption. Indeed, on the very day of his passing, his article “Agentic and Communal Motivations Underlying Human-AI Interactions,” written with his student Jianning Dang, was published in the Asian Journal of Social Psychology, highlighting his active work in the field.
The passing of Professor Liu represents a significant loss to China’s psychological science and academic community, as well as to the Asian Association of Social Psychology. We sincerely mourn and honor the memory of Professor Liu.
A memorial service will be held at 9:00 AM on Sunday, November 2, 2025, at the Babaoshan Funeral Home in Beijing. Those attending privately or representing organizations, please contact the Beijing Normal University Faculty of Psychology office (psyoffice@bnu.edu.cn).
As a small gesture of remembrance, the Asian Association of Social Psychology has sent a funeral wreath to the memorial service. The following elegiac couplets will be attached:
博思慎行，开拓亚洲社会心理深广之境
立德树人，传承学术精神品格永铭于心
高山仰止
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English Elegiac Couplets (Poetic Rendering)
With thoughtful insight and careful action, he broadened the horizons of Asian social psychology.
With virtue and devotion to nurturing others, his scholarly spirit and moral character will be remembered forever.
His virtue stands as a mountain, inspiring reverence.
On behalf of the entire Association, including former Presidents and Executive Committee members, we extend our deepest condolences. Professor Liu, rest in peace.
Past President Minoru Karasawa
President Elect Wendy Li
Secretary General Emma E. Buchtel
Treasurer Ben Chun Pan Lam
Asian Association of Social Psychology
November 1, 2025
