Im now a third year PhD graduate student in the Department of Educational Psychology and a trainee at the Population Research Center. I was born in Chengdu, China. I graduated from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with dual degrees in computer science and psychology.
My current interest of research focus on social comparisons among middle/high school adolescents and their parents. My research aims to understand if theres any association between parents use of critical comparison and students psychological and behavioral outcomes. I did interviews with middle and high school students in Chengdu, China on their parents use of critical comparisons and consequential results. Im now collecting and analyzing survey data on this project. Another part of my research is about peoples attitudes towards only children and only children families. Im currently analyzing qualitative data on college students responses to families who chose to have only one child vs. more children.
Recent Conventional Presentations:
Yang, Y. (2019, August). Chinese Parents Critical Comparisons and
Childrens Social Comparison Behaviors in Middle School. Symposium session to be
presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association,
Chicago, IL.
Falbo, T., Lin, S., & Yang, Y. (2018, August). One-Child Families, Values, and the Reduction of Backlash. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), San Francisco, CA.
Toni Falbo (Supervisor)Falbo uses both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to address problems in education and health. She is an internationally recognized expert on only children, including their academic, social, emotional, and health outcomes. Falbo is also an expert on conducting cross-cultural research and research aimed at improving the education of ethnic minorities in the U.S.
