Five on Fridays: Aakash Chowkase, Ph.D.

Today’s “5 on Fridays” comes from Aakash Chowkase, Ph.D., Associate Research Scientist at Yale’s Center for Emotional Intelligence. His current research centers on measuring and cultivating concern for others in adolescents and adults across diverse cultural contexts.

We asked Dr. Chowkase the following questions to learn more about his work to promote adolescents’ cognitive and affective growth in areas such as creativity, compassion, self-regulation, and leadership.

1. Who or what is a source of inspiration for you these days?

With ongoing wars and rapid, often unregulated developments in the AI field, it is very easy to lose hope. But my sources of inspiration are ordinary people who come together to act in small ways to make this world a better place. I am part of the Jnana Prabodhini Foundation, a US-based non-profit organization working to advance education and health for underserved communities in India. Every day, when I look at the dedicated volunteers in our organization—who balance their personal and professional lives and yet find time to uplift others—my heart is filled with reassurance in humanity and hope for a positive future where peace, harmony, and progress prevail.

2. What new research in the world of prosocial education (SEL/character education/emotional intelligence/culture of care) are you excited about these days?

These days, I am very excited about the upcoming Cambridge Handbook of Character, which Dr. Robert Sternberg and I are co-editing. Over 35 scholars from around the world are contributing to this volume, offering diverse perspectives on character and its development, spanning from ancient spiritual traditions to contemporary challenges such as digital environments. Our hope is to spark a renewed conversation on this timeless topic and bring character back into sharper focus within education and psychology. I am particularly excited to contribute a chapter on how artificial intelligence challenges the very idea of character, and how we might think about human–AI interactions in this light.

3. How do you address issues of representation and cultural bias in your research?

I am from India, and more often than not, I see research from Western countries being used in India without first demonstrating its cultural appropriateness. For example, many psychological surveys used in India are developed elsewhere and never tested in the Indian context before being administered to children and adults alike. We wouldn’t do the same with our vaccines, would we? In my recent work, I developed a measure to assess concern for others using cross-cultural data, ensuring it can be meaningfully used in both India and the U.S. Such careful and intentional cross-cultural research enables valid comparisons across countries and helps address issues of representation and cultural bias in the literature. Interestingly, we found significantly greater self-reported concern for others among Indian participants compared to their U.S. counterparts. More research is needed to understand why that might be. Overall, more scholars need to look beyond Western countries, which represent about 16% of the world’s population yet contribute roughly 80% of the literature in psychology and educational research.

4. Do you think there are “universal truths” in the area of prosocial education? If yes, please give an example. If not, please share more about your thinking.

Absolutely. One universal truth in prosocial education is that we are all deeply interconnected. One person’s actions invariably affect others; one country’s aggression disturbs global harmony. Given this interconnectedness, others’ interests inevitably become our own. The world is truly one big family, and if we treated it that way, we would see more of the peace and harmony we so desperately need today. We must remind ourselves–and help the next generation remember–this fundamental truth: Ubuntu. I am because we are.

5. What do you wish was included in educator preparation programs to support prospective educators in learning about student well-being and resilience?

One of the keys to well-being is focusing on others. Unfortunately, our education systems often emphasize individual achievement and success more than uplifting others. As a result, we do not sufficiently prioritize teaching essential life skills such as compassion and courage. That is precisely why I co-developed a classroom-based program for adolescents with a group of teachers, focused on nurturing concern for others—emotional intelligence, empathy, compassion, gratitude, helping behaviors, and a sense of interconnectedness. I wish educator preparation programs would prioritize these capacities alongside academic training. Are we not yet weary of leaders who are highly competent in some ways but emotionally unintelligent and unconcerned about the welfare of those they lead?

We want to thank Dr. Aakash Chowkase for his thoughtful participation in our “Five on Fridays” series!