About me

Hi! I’m Yi Zhang, a Ph.D. candidate in Psychology at the University of Southern California, advised by Leor Hackel. My work examines how social experiences shape empathy, social connection, and well-being. I use multi-method approaches including behavioral experiments, longitudinal social network analysis, and natural language processing.

Alongside my academic work, I am passionate about human-centered design and technology. In my past internships, I worked on translating psychological theory into digital wellbeing interventions and designing and evaluating tools that help people reflect, regulate emotions, and connect with others.

Outside research, I’m passionate about science communication. Since 2021, I’ve written and translated articles for Neureality (神经现实), covering topics such as social connection, empathy, and AI.

Before USC, I received my B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from New York University, working in Jay Van Bavel and Jon Freeman's labs. Later, I worked as a lab manager at Columbia University with Kevin Ochsner.

You can find my CV here.

Feel free to reach out. My email is yzhang51@usc.edu.