Overview
I am currently a PhD student in psychology at the University of Exeter. Under the supervision of Dr Andrew Livingstone and Prof Anna Adlam, my research focuses on investigating whether the experience of feeling understood by others can help with promoting international students' wellbeing and social inclusion in UK higher education. Specifically, we would like to examine:
- International students' mental health and wellbeing;
- How social identity unlocks psychological resources for wellbeing;
- Whether structured communication between groups (international students and UK students in this project) can generate felt understanding, which in turn leads to positive group relational outcomes.
I’m also interested in international students’ general experiences at UK universities, including the variation in their perceptions among students from different cultural backgrounds.
I'm currently co-organising ReproducibiliTea Exeter journal club. I'm open to any discussion about reproducibility and Open Science.
Broad research specialisms:
Social identity, international students, intergroup relations, wellbeing, open science
Publications:
Du, X., Livingstone, A. G., & Adlam, A.-L. R. (2023). Felt understanding as a bridge between social identity and wellbeing among international university students. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 1– 18. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2722
Qualifications
MRes in Psychology, University of Manchester (2020)
BSc (Hons) in Applied Psychology, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (2019)
Links
Publications
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Publications by category
Journal articles
Du X, Livingstone A, Adlam A (In Press). Felt understanding as a bridge between social identity and wellbeing among international university students.
Journal of Community and Applied Social PsychologyAbstract:
Felt understanding as a bridge between social identity and wellbeing among international university students
Wellbeing issues among international students in UK higher education have been recognised as a crisis. To address this, we integrate social identity and felt understanding approaches to wellbeing and mental health, testing whether felt understanding (the belief that others understand oneself) is an important process through which social identity predicts better wellbeing, over and above other, more established mediators (social support, life meaning, and personal control). International university students (including both undergraduates and postgraduates, N = 301) completed an online survey which measured three sets of variables: social identity variables (ingroup identification, multiple identities, multiple identity compatibility); process variables (social support, felt understanding, life meaning, personal control); and wellbeing outcomes (e.g. depression, anxiety, stress). Path analyses confirmed that felt understanding predicted better wellbeing outcomes over and above the other mediators. Additionally, indirect effects from social identity variables to wellbeing via felt understanding were consistently significant, even when adjusting for the other mediators. The results are consistent with the idea that felt understanding is an under-acknowledged resource through which social identities protect wellbeing. The findings contribute to ‘social cure’ research and have implications for promoting wellbeing services from the perspective of group memberships.
Abstract.
Publications by year
In Press
Du X, Livingstone A, Adlam A (In Press). Felt understanding as a bridge between social identity and wellbeing among international university students.
Journal of Community and Applied Social PsychologyAbstract:
Felt understanding as a bridge between social identity and wellbeing among international university students
Wellbeing issues among international students in UK higher education have been recognised as a crisis. To address this, we integrate social identity and felt understanding approaches to wellbeing and mental health, testing whether felt understanding (the belief that others understand oneself) is an important process through which social identity predicts better wellbeing, over and above other, more established mediators (social support, life meaning, and personal control). International university students (including both undergraduates and postgraduates, N = 301) completed an online survey which measured three sets of variables: social identity variables (ingroup identification, multiple identities, multiple identity compatibility); process variables (social support, felt understanding, life meaning, personal control); and wellbeing outcomes (e.g. depression, anxiety, stress). Path analyses confirmed that felt understanding predicted better wellbeing outcomes over and above the other mediators. Additionally, indirect effects from social identity variables to wellbeing via felt understanding were consistently significant, even when adjusting for the other mediators. The results are consistent with the idea that felt understanding is an under-acknowledged resource through which social identities protect wellbeing. The findings contribute to ‘social cure’ research and have implications for promoting wellbeing services from the perspective of group memberships.
Abstract.
Refresh publications
