Staff profile

Siyu Zhang is a PhD student in Social Psychology who began her studies in 2025. Before joining DU, she completed a bachelor’s degree in Nursing at Harbin Medical University and a master’s degree in Psychology at Hangzhou Normal University, both in China.

Her research explores how social psychological mechanisms shape classroom learning, with a particular focus on stereotype threat among underrepresented groups. Taking a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach, Siyu’s project combines field studies with innovative 5G/Wi-Fi acoustic sensing technology to examine students’ physiological and vocal responses in real classroom settings. Through this work, she seeks to better understand when and why stereotype threat most strongly affects students, and how its impact can be effectively reduced.

Siyu comes from Chongqing, a mountainous and magical metropolis in southwest China, known for its endless bridges, tunnels, and famously spicy cuisine — especially hotpot and Chongqing noodles. Beyond her academic work, she enjoys cycling, music, and hiking, and is always open to friendly conversations and collaborations.

Research Interests

• Social identity
• Inequality
• Stereotype threat
• Reduce classroom anxiety

Supervisors

Dr. Chuma Owuamalam

Prof. Mario Weick

Prof. Yunfei Chen

Journal Article

• Using latent profile and network analyses to characterize individuals with musical anhedonia: An explorative study
  
  Zhang, S., He, X., Ye, Q., Jin, J., Ni, K., Li, Y., Gold, B. P., Li, B., & Cai, X. (2025). Using latent profile and network analyses to characterize individuals with musical anhedonia: An explorative study. Personality and Individual Differences, 246, Article 113363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113363
• Cross‐cultural adaptation and clinical application of the Perth Empathy Scale
  
  Ye, Q., Liu, Y., Zhang, S., Ni, K., Fu, S., Dou, W., Wei, W., Li, B., Preece, D. A., & Cai, X. (2024). Cross‐cultural adaptation and clinical application of the Perth Empathy Scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 80(7), 1473-1489. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23643