Mental health and meaning: a positive autoethnographic case study of Paul Wong
| Date | 16 July 2024 |
| Pages | 68-86 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-06-2024-0092 |
| Published date | 16 July 2024 |
| Author | Paul T.P. Wong,Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky |
Mental health and meaning: a positive
autoethnographic case study of
Paul Wong
Paul T.P. Wong and Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of thisarticle is to meet Professor Paul T.P. Wong, PhD, CPscyh,who is based at
the Department of Psychology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Wong represents an
interesting case of how a racial/cultural minority could achieve success in a hostile environment
consisting of the systemicbiases of injustice, discrimination andmarginalization. His life also epitomizes
how one canexperience the paradoxical truth ofhealing and flourishing in an upside-downworld through
the positivesuffering mindset (PSM).
Design/methodology/approach –This case study is presented in two sections: a positive
autoethnography written by Wong, followed by his answers to ten questions. The core methodology of
positiveautoethnography allows people to understandhow Wong’s life experience of beinga war baby in
China, a constant outsider and a lone voice in Western culture, has shaped a very different vision of
meaning,positive mental health and global flourishing.
Findings –Wong reveals how to live a life of meaning and happiness for all the suffering people in a
difficult world.He has researched the positive psychology of sufferingfor 60 years, from effective coping
with stress and searching for meaning to successful aging and positive death. According to Wong’s
suffering hypothesis and the emerging paradigm of existential positive psychology (Wong, 2021),
cultivatinga PSM is essential for healing andflourishing in all seasons of life.
Research limitations/implications –An expanding literaturehas been developed to illustrate why the
missing link in well-being research is how to transcend and transform suffering into triumph. Wong
reveals how this emerging area of research is still not fully embraced by mainstream psychology
dominated by the individualisticEuro-American culture, and thus why, in an adversarialmilieu, existential
positive psychology is limited by its inability to attract more researchers to test out Wong’s suffering
hypothesis.
Practical implications –The wisdom and helpful toolspresented here may enable people to achieve
mature happiness and existential well-being even when they have a very painful past, a very difficult
presentand a bleak future.
Social implications –This autoethnographiccase study offers new grounds for hope for all those who
are injured by life, marginalizedby systemic biases or tormented by chronic illnesses and disorders. It
also provides a road map for a better world with more decent human beings who dare to stand up for
justice,integrity and compassion.
Originality/value –Meaning as reflected in sufferingis according to Wong the most powerful force to
bring out either the worst or the best in people. The new scienceof suffering shows us how the authors
can achievepositive transformation throughcultivating a PSM, no matter how harshone’s fate may be.
Keywords Meaning, Suffering, Resilience, Positive suffering mindset, Mental health, Autoethnography,
Positive autoethnography
Paper type Case study
Introduction
This positive autoethnography is a case study of Professor Paul Wong, Professor Emeritus
at Trent University and President of the International Network on Personal Meaning. Positive
Paul T.P. Wong is based at
the Department of
Psychology, Trent
University, Peterborough,
Canada.
Freda Gonot-Schoupinsky
is Visiting Research Fellow
at the School of
Psychology, Faculty of
Health and Wellbeing,
University of Bolton, Bolton,
UK.
The authors would like to thank
Timothy T.F. Yu for his help.
PAGE 68 jMENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION jVOL. 29 NO. 1 2025, pp. 68-86, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 DOI 10.1108/MHSI-06-2024-0092
autoethnography (Gonot-Schoupinsky et al., 2023) draws on positive reflexivityand positive
psychology (Gonot-Schoupinsky et al.,2024) to reflect on and narrate topics of interest.
Previous positive autoethnographic case studies have focused on positive aging (Shaffer
and Gonot-Schoupinsky, 2024), leadership (Mayer and Gonot-Schoupinsky, 2024),
forgiveness (Worthington and Gonot-Schoupinsky, 2024) and positive introversion (Weeks
and Gonot-Schoupinsky, 2024).
Wong’s enormous contribution to positive psychology is remarkable. As a racial/cultural
minority, he has had to fight systemic biases of injustice, discrimination and marginalization
(Wong, 2020a), motivating his search for meaning. Wong’s new paradigm of existential
positive psychology (PP 2.0) has the power to transform research and interventions in
positive psychology and positive mental health when optimal conceptual theory (OCT)
(Myers et al., 2018) and the positive suffering mindset (PSM) are embraced by mainstream
psychology. According to Wong’s suffering hypothesis (Wong and Laird, 2024) and the
emerging paradigm of existential positive psychology (Wong et al.,2022), cultivating a PSM
is essential for healing and flourishing in all seasons of life. But let us now turn to Wong
himself to hear more.
Paul Wong’s story
Introducing myself
As Professor Emeritus at Trent University and President of the International Network on
Personal Meaning, I am recognized as a pioneer in the existential positive psychology of
achieving well-being through positive transformations in a world full of suffering (Wong,
2023a). I use the method of positive autoethnography (Gonot-Schoupinsky et al.,2023)to
share highlights of my fascinating life and academic contributions in a world dominated by
Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic samples (Wong and Cowden,
2022). This paper shows how I heroically struggle to realize my dream of a better life and
better world in spite of all my hardships, rejections and obstacles. The saga of my life and
achievements can be found in my autobiography (Wong, 2019a) and my Festschrift (L.C.J.
Wong, 2024a). My latest book is A Second-Wave Positive Psychology in Counselling
Psychology: A Paradigm Shift (Wong, 2023b). My latest publication is “A new science of
suffering, the wisdom of the soul, and the new behavioral economics of happiness: towards
a general theory of well-being” (Wong et al., 2023). I have authored more than 300 papers
and eight books.
The recurring leitmotif of all my publications is that life may be full of injustice, suffering and
evil (Wong, 2020c), but there are always ways of overcoming and positively transforming
suffering through the hero’s journey and faith in divine grace (see my current course on
“Unlock the Transforming Power of Suffering”; Wong, 2024b). My view is contrary to the
alternative way of reacting to suffering with bitterness, resentment and anger, a downward
spiral that may lead to anxiety, depression,addiction, aggression and suicide.
Childhood
Among billions of families in China,fate placed me in the Wong family. Even though I cannot
take credit for my birth, I can at leastexpress gratitude for my family and my lineage, which
have provided a solid foundation to buildmy life upon. I was born in 1937 in Tianjin, the year
of the Nanking Massacre (Chang, 2012). I am culturally rooted in China, a land beset by
wars and revolts in the past 100years. This cultural difference probably accounts for most
of my disagreement with the positive psychology launched by Martin Seligman. As a child, I
watched helplessly as Japanese soldiers and Chinese traitors forced my family and me out
of our residence at gunpoint. Asa teen, I witnessed how Chinese communists seized all the
properties accumulated by my father as a self-made business man. In my adulthood, I see
VOL. 29 NO. 1 2025 jMENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION jPAGE 69
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