Assistant Professor of Psychology
Ph.D., Purdue University
Zhixu (Rick) Yang
Contact Information
Office: VC 8-298
Email: Zhixu.Yang@baruch.cuny.edu
Lab: Conflict and Well-being (CoWell) Lab
Zhixu (Rick) Yang earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Purdue University. His research focuses on conflict management and employee well-being across three interconnected areas: (1) identifying strategies to manage competing goals in work and life (e.g., multitasking); (2) bridging divides in conflict communication (e.g., negotiation, disagreement); and (3) examining how employees (e.g., Asian workers in the US) experience mistreatment and dehumanization. His research draws from multiple disciplines, including social, cognitive, and cultural psychology and organizational behavior. Rick uses a wide range of methods such as psychometric assessments, longitudinal studies, multilevel modeling, experimental designs, and qualitative approaches. His work appears in respected journals and handbooks, including Applied Psychology: An International Review, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and the Handbook of Experimental Social Psychology. Rick is passionate about mentoring graduate and undergraduate students and serving communities.
Representative Publications:
Yang, Z., Kung, F. Y. H., & Schneider, D. (2025). Individual preferences in multiple goal pursuit: Reconsidering the conceptualization and dimensionality of polychronicity. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 74(1), e12575. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12575
Yang, Z. & Kung, F. Y. H. (2025). How individuals navigate and mitigate intergroup conflicts: Current insights and future directions. In S. D. Stern (Eds.) Handbook of Experimental Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035310661.00029
Yang, Z. & Kung, F. Y. H. (2024). Toward a culturally sensitive perspective on silence in organizations. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 17(3), 366–370. https://doi.org/10.1017/iop.2024.24
Yang, Z., Kung, F. Y. H., Brienza, J., & Chao, M. M. (2024). Bridging social divides: The role of wise reasoning in improving intergroup relations. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 10(1), 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/tps0000389
Representative Presentations:
Yang, Z., Kunstman, J., & Kung, F. Y. H. (2025, April). Mechanistic dehumanization and social pain minimization as vulnerability factors for well-being among Asian workers in the U.S. In Yang, L. & Yang, Z. (2025, April), Beyond the model minority: Challenges and barriers impacting Asian workers’ outcomes [Symposium]. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Annual Conference, Denver, CO, United States.
Yang, Z., Kung, F. Y. H., & Chao, M. M. (2024, August). Wise Reasoning and Subjective Values in Conflict Communication. In Mitchell, T. D. & Yang, Z. (2024, August). Identity and Individual Differences in Workplace Negotiations. Symposium at the 84th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Chicago, IL, United States.
Yang, Z. & Kung, F. Y. H. (2024, February). A Dual-Engagement Framework and Measure of Goal Conflict Management Strategies. In Yang, Z. & Büchner, A. Navigating Conflicts in Goal Pursuit: A Multidimensional Perspective. Symposium at the 26th Annual Convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA, United States.