Dr. Chen is a professor at Penn GSE. He conducts research on socioemotional development in childhood and adolescence. He has received a Scholars Award from the William T. Grant Foundation, a Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD), and several other awards for his scientific work. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA, Div. 7), the Association for Psychological Science (APS), and the American Educational Research Association (AERA). He served as the president of ISSBD. He has been on the editorial boards of leading journals in the field.

Research Interests and Current Projects

Dr. Chen’s research focuses on children’s and adolescents’ socioemotional functioning and its role in social, school, and psychological adjustment from a contextual-developmental perspective. He is interested in the developmental processes of social competence, shyness-inhibition, and aggression, and dispositional/biological and socialization factors that are involved in the processes. He has conducted, in collaboration with his colleagues, a series of longitudinal projects in Chinese, North American, and other societies. The projects are based largely on a theoretical framework he has developed concerning the links between cultural values and two fundamental systems of socioemotional functioning, social initiative, and self-control, during development. The projects have tapped (1) the joint and interactive contributions of early temperamental characteristics and parenting practices to human development in changing social, economic, and cultural contexts, and (2) the role of social interactions and relationships in mediating and moderating contextual influences on development. In addition, his team has conducted several studies of adjustment experiences, including the difficulties and strengths, of different generations of Asian children and adolescents in North America.

Publications

Featured Books

Socioemotional Development in Cultural Context

Selected Publications

Chen, X. (2020). Exploring cultural meanings of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors in children and adolescents: A contextual-developmental perspective. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 44, 256–265.

Chen, X., Fu, R., Li, D., Chen, H., Wang, Z., & Wang, L. (2020). Behavioral inhibition in early childhood and adjustment in late adolescence in China. Child Development. doi:10.1111/cdev.13463

Chen, L., & Chen, X. (2020). Affiliation with depressive peer groups and social and school adjustment in Chinese adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 32, 1087–1095.

Ju, S. G., Chen, X., Chen, L., Zhao, S., & Fegley, S. G. (2020). Relations of maternal power assertion and autonomy support with children’s adjustment in Korea. Journal of Family Psychology. doi:10.1037/fam0000720

Chen, X., Fu, R., & Yiu, V. (2019). Culture and parenting. In M. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting. New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 448–473.

Chen, X., Li, D., Liu, J., Fu, R., & Liu, S. (2019). Father migration and mother migration: Different implications for social, school, and psychological adjustment of left-behind children in rural China. Journal of Contemporary China, 27, 849–863.

Chen, X., Li, D., Xu, X., Liu, J., Fu, R., Cui, L., & Liu, S. (2019). School adjustment of children from rural migrant families in urban China. Journal of School Psychology, 72, 14–28.

Chen, X. (2018). Culture, temperament, and social and psychological adjustment. Developmental Review, 50, 42–63.

Chen, X., Fu, R., Liu, J., Wang, L., Zarbatany, L., & Ellis, W. (2018). Social sensitivity and social, school, and psychological adjustment among children across contexts. Developmental Psychology, 54, 1124–1134.

Chen, X., Lee, J., & Chen, L. (2018). Culture and peer relationships. In W. M. Bukowski, B. Laursen, & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups. New York, NY: The Guilford Press, pp. 552–570.

Chen, X., Li, D., Liu, J., Chen, H., & Zhao, S. (2018). Judgments of damage to public versus private property in Chinese children at different historical times. Developmental Science, 21(1), 1–6.

Zhao, S., & Chen, X. (2018). Maternal involvement in children's leisure activities in rural China: Relations with adjustment outcomes. Journal of Family Psychology 32, 71–80.

Chen, X. (2017). Socioemotional development across cultures. In M. D. Sera, M. Maratsos, & S. M. Carlson (Eds.), Minnesota symposium on child psychology, Vol. 38. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 275–298.

Chen, X., & Liu, C. (2016). Culture, peer relationships, and developmental psychopathology. In D. Cicchetti (Ed.), Developmental Psychopathology, Wiley, pp. 723–769.

Chen, X., Liu, J., Ellis, W., & Zarbatany, L. (2016). Social sensitivity and adjustment in Chinese and Canadian children. Child Development, 87, 1115–1129.

Chen, X. (2015). Exploring the implications of social change for human development: Perspectives, issues, and future directions. International Journal of Psychology, 50, 56–59.

Chen, X., & Schmidt, L. (2015). Temperament and personality. In M. E. Lamb & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology and developmental science (Vol. 3). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 152–200.

Yang, F., Chen, X., & Wang, L. (2015). Shyness-sensitivity and social, school, and psychological adjustment in urban Chinese children: A four-wave longitudinal study. Child Development, 86, 1848–1864.

Chen, X., Wang, L., Li, D., & Liu, J. (2014). Loneliness in Chinese children across contexts. Developmental Psychology, 50, 2324–2333.

Chen, X., Zhang, G., Liang, Z., Zhang, M., Way, N. Yoshikawa, H., et al. (2014). The association between 5-HTTLPR gene polymorphism and behavioral inhibition in Chinese toddlers. Developmental Psychobiology, 56, 1601–1608.

Chen, X. (2012). Culture, peer interaction, and socioemotional development. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 27–34.

Chen, X., Huang, X., Wang, L., & Chang, L. (2012). Aggression, peer relationships, and depression in Chinese children: A multi-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 53, 1233–1241.

Chen, X., & Li, D. (2012). Parental encouragement of initiative-taking and adjustment in Chinese children from rural, urban, and urbanized families. Journal of Family Psychology, 26, 927–936.

Chen, X., Wang, L., & Cao, R. (2011). Shyness-sensitivity and unsociability in rural Chinese children: Relations with social, school, and psychological adjustment. Child Development, 82, 1531–1543.

Chen, X., & Rubin, K. H. (Eds.). (2011). Socioemotional development in cultural context. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

Chen, X. (2010). Socioemotional development in Chinese children. In M. H. Bond (Ed.), Handbook of Chinese psychology, Oxford University Press, pp. 37–52.

Silbereisen, R., & Chen, X. (Eds.). (2010). Social change and human development: Concepts and results. Sage.

Chen, X., Chen, H., Li, D., & Wang, L. (2009). Early childhood behavioral inhibition and social and school adjustment in Chinese children: A five-year longitudinal study. Child Development, 80, 1692–1704.

Chen, X., Wang, L., & Wang, Z. (2009). Shyness-sensitivity and social, school, and psychological adjustment in rural migrant and urban children in China. Child Development, 80, 1499–1513.

Chen, X., Chang, L., Liu, H., & He, Y. (2008). Effects of the peer group on the development of social functioning and academic achievement: A longitudinal study in Chinese children. Child Development, 79, 235–251.

Chen, X., & French, D. (2008). Children’s social competence in cultural context. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 591–616.

Chen, X., & Tse, H. C. (2008). Social functioning and adjustment in Canadian-born children with Chinese and European backgrounds. Developmental Psychology, 44, 1184–1189.

Chen, X., DeSouza, A., Chen, H., & Wang, L. (2006). Reticent behavior and experiences in peer interactions in Canadian and Chinese children. Developmental Psychology, 42, 656–665.

Chen, X., French, D., & Schneider, B. (Eds.).(2006). Peer relationships in cultural context. Cambridge University Press.

Chen, X., Cen, G., Li, D., & He, Y. (2005). Social functioning and adjustment in Chinese children: The imprint of historical time. Child Development, 76, 182–195.

Liu, M., Chen, X., Rubin, K. H., Zheng, S., Cui, L., Li, D., Chen, H., & Wang, L. (2005). Autonomy- vs. connectedness-oriented parenting behaviors in Chinese and Canadian mothers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 29, 489–495.

Chen, X., He, Y., De Oliveira, A. M., Lo Coco, A, Zappulla, C., Kaspar, V., Schneider, B., Valdivia, I. A., Tse, C. H., & DeSouza, A. (2004). Loneliness and social adaptation in Brazilian, Canadian, Chinese and Italian children. Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 45, 1373–1384.

Chen, X., Rubin, K. H., Liu, M., Chen, H., Wang, L., & Li, D., Gao, X., Cen, G., Gu, H., & Li, B. (2003). Compliance in Chinese and Canadian toddlers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27, 428–436.

Chen, X., Hastings, P., Rubin, K. H., Chen, H., Cen, G., & Stewart, S. L. (1998). Childrearing attitudes and behavioral inhibition in Chinese and Canadian toddlers: A cross-cultural study. Developmental Psychology, 34, 677–686.

News & Media

In the Media

East and West may be reshaping each other's parenting

Individualist values from Europe and the US are transforming parenting globally, but East Asian values are also migrating the other way, says Xinyin Chen.

Child & Family Blog | February 6, 2017