Zhixu Yang
Asst Professor
Weissman School of Arts and Sciences
- Biography
- Teaching
- Research and Creative Activity
- Grants
- Honors and Awards
- Service
Dr. Zhixu (Rick) Yang is an organizational psychologist and Director of the Conflict and Well-being (CoWell) Lab. His research examines how people experience and navigate conflict across multiple levels, including competing personal goals, divergent interpersonal perspectives, and marginalized group identities, and how these experiences shape individual and organizational well-being. Drawing on theories from social, cognitive, cultural, and organizational psychology, his work employs a wide range of methods, including psychometrics, longitudinal and experimental designs, multilevel modeling, and qualitative approaches.
Dr. Yang's research has been published in leading journals and handbooks, such as Nature Reviews Psychology, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Translational Issues in Psychological Science, and the Handbook of Experimental Social Psychology. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Business and Psychology and has served as an ad hoc reviewer for more than a dozen academic journals.
Dr. Yang is an Assistant Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Baruch College, City University of New York, and is affiliated with the CUNY Graduate Center, where he mentors doctoral students. He teaches Research Methods in Psychology at the undergraduate level and Applied Statistical Analysis at the graduate level. He is passionate about mentoring and collaborating with students from diverse backgrounds and at different stages of their academic and professional development.
Education
Ph.D., Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Purdue University West Lafayette United States
M.Sc., Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Purdue University West Lafayette United States
B.Sc., Psychology, Zhejiang University Hangzhou China
Journal Articles
(2026). The diverse psychological processes of dehumanization. Nature Reviews Psychology, 1--1.
(2026). SIOP LGBTQIA+ committee: Looking back and forging ahead. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 641.
(2026). The next frontier in I-O research on motivation: Toward a first-person perspective. Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
(2025). Individual preferences in multiple goal pursuit: Reconsidering the conceptualization and dimensionality of polychronicity. Applied Psychology, 74(1). e12575.
(2024). Toward a culturally sensitive perspective on silence in organizations. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 17(3). 366--370.
(2024). Bridging social divides: The role of wise reasoning in improving intergroup relations. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 10(1). 69.
(2023). Employees' mindset matters: Leveraging cultural mindset to harness the benefits of organizational polyculturalism. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 16(3). 408--412.
(2021). A creative destruction approach to replication: Implicit work and sex morality across cultures. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 93. 104060.
(2020). When do good deeds lead to good feelings? Eudaimonic orientation moderates the happiness benefits of prosocial behavior. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11). 4053.
Social pain minimization and mechanistic dehumanization: Impacts on the well-being of Asian workers in the US. Occupational Health Science,
Antecedents of mechanistic dehumanization of Asian Americans: Insights from disrupted investigations of perceived self-determination and self-control. Social Cognition,
Book Chapters
(2025). How individuals navigate and mitigate intergroup conflicts: Current insights and future directions. Handbook of Experimental Social Psychology (pp. 334--353).
Toward an inclusive motivation science. Handbook of Motivation and Social Psychology
Conference Proceedings
Mitchell, T. D., Yang, Z., Kung, F., Chao, M. M., Keegin, M., Jackson, C., Yuan, Z., Green, S., Effinger, A. L., & Gunia, B. (2024). Identity and individual differences in workplace negotiations. Academy of Management Proceedings.
| Honor / Award | Organization Sponsor | Date Received | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Student Travel Award | 2025-04-01 | ||
| Purdue University Department of Psychological Sciences Lawshe Award | 2025-04-01 | ||
| Midwestern Psychological Association Diversity Travel Award | 2025-02-01 | ||
| Purdue University Dr. William H. Hendrix Industrial-Organizational Psychology Graduate Student Research Excellence Award | 2024-04-01 | ||
| Purdue University Employee Recognition Award for High-Profile Projects | 2024-04-01 | ||
| Purdue University Ross-Lynn Research Scholar Award Grant | 2021-08-16 |
College
| Committee Name | Position Role | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weissman DEI Alliance | Committee Member | Present | |
| I-O Psychology program social media committee | Committee Member | Present |
Professional
| Organization | Position Role | Organization State | Organization Country | Start Date | End Date | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) LGBTQIA+ committee | Committee Member | 8/31/2024 | Present | International | ||
| Journal of Business and Psychology | Editorial Review Board Member | 5/6/2026 | Present | International |