Stephen Chen
Associate Professor of Psychology
Research explores how culture and family processes influence development and mental health across the lifespan.
My research interests lie at the intersection of clinical, cultural, and developmental psychology. The overarching aim of my research is to examine how cultural and family processes influence mental health and development across the lifespan. I explore this question primarily in under-represented, underserved, and at-risk populations.
A key focus of my research is the interplay of culture and emotion in the family context. One line of investigation examines the emotions associated with social status and social mobility. A second line of investigation explores the relations between language, emotion, and interpersonal processes in multilingual families. Most recently, I am examining how individuals integrate racial-ethnic and religious-spiritual identities in their perspectives on emotion, social status, and well-being.
At Wellesley, I teach courses in Asian American Psychology, Cultural Psychology, and Culture and Emotion. I am a member of the Society for Research in Adolescence and the Society for Research in Child Development, where I am involved in the Asian Caucus. I currently serve on the Editorial Boards for Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and the Journal of Research on Adolescence.
Representative Publications
“What an ancient Chinese philosopher can teach us about Americans’ obsession with college rankings”. March 2026. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/what-an-ancient-chinese-philosopher-can-teach-us-about-americans-obsession-with-college-rankings-277059
Wang, M., Gleason, T.R., & Chen, S.H. (2025). Effortful control is associated with ethnic minority children’s pro-wealth biases and explanations across social domains. Developmental Psychology. 61(9), 1707–1720.
Williams, A. I., Liu, C., Deng, X., Meng, L., Wu, J. Zhou, Q., & Chen, S.H. (2024) Parental expressions of love in Chinese American immigrant families: Implications for children’s attachment security. Developmental Science, 27(6), e13549.
Chen, S. H., Zhang, E., Liu, C. H., & Wang, L. K. (2021). Depressive symptoms in Chinese immigrant mothers: Relations with perceptions of social status and interpersonal support. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 27(1), 72.
Education
- B.A., Rutgers University-New Brunswick
- Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley
Current and upcoming courses
Introduction to Psychology
PSYC101
An introduction to some of the major subfields of psychology, such as developmental, personality, clinical, physiological, cognitive, cultural, and social psychology. Students will explore various theoretical perspectives and research methods used by psychologists to study the origins and variations in human behavior.
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Psychology, Literature, and the Asian American Experience
PSYC230
An interdisciplinary approach to inquiry is one of the hallmarks of a liberal arts education. This course will apply the approaches of two distinct disciplines - Psychology and Literature - towards understanding the Asian American experience. In one thread, we will examine how theories, concepts, and the empirical methods of psychological science can help us understand Asian American fiction. At the same time, we will identify limitations of empirical approaches in capturing the human experience and consider how literature and the phenomenon of fictionality fill these gaps. (ENG 230 and PSYC 230 are cross-listed courses.)