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Huajian Cai

Huajian Cai

Associate Professor

Huajian Cai.

Prof. Cai is accepting applications for new graduate students in the Applied Social and Developmental Psychology program.

Education

  • Ph.D., East China Normal University

Research Interests

  • Social Cognition

Research

My research has involved four broad areas, including implicit social cognition, the self, cross-cultural (or cultural) psychology, and psychological well-being. For implicit social cognition, I have examined some methodological issues surrounding the use of Implicit Association Test (IAT), predictability of IAT on behavioral outcomes, heritability of implicit social cognition, and developmental stability of implicit social cognition. In the future, I plan to keep examining the development and flexibility of implicit social cognition. For the Self, my past research has mostly focused on self-positivity, including self-enhancement, self-esteem, and narcissism. In the future, I plan to employ longitudinal design to examine their developmental trajectories as well as their prospective predictions. Besides, I will also investigate the properties of self-authenticity as well as its adaptive function. For culture psychology, my past research has demonstrated how self-enhancement and interpersonal trust may vary across cultures. Currently, I am interested in within-cultural variations and cross-temporal changes of culture psychology. For psychological well-being, my past research has examined factors that may help people maintain and enhance their psychological wellbeing, including desirable personality (e.g., high self-esteem), appropriate self-regulation (e.g., self-affirmation, nostalgia, meaning-making), and beneficial socioecological environments (e.g., economic wealth, warm home, pleasant nature). In the future, I plan to explore the mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of these factors.

Lastly, I have started a new area of research recently about the impacts of nature on human psychology. It’s an interesting topic that can have significant implications for our understanding of human behavior and well-being.

I have used a variety of cutting-edge methodologies in my research, including behavioral genetic data analysis, longitudinal data analysis, Implicit Association Test (IAT), event-related potential (ERP), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Eye-link, and natural language processing techniques. These methodologies have allowed me to approach an issue from multiple perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of the research problem.

Selected Publications

  • Yang, Y., Sedikides, C., Wang, Y., & Cai, H. (2023). Nature Nurtures Authenticity: Mechanisms and Consequences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. doi:10.1037/pspi0000432. Online in advance.
  • Wang, Y., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Yang, Y., & Cai. H.(2023). Distress prospectively predicts higher nostalgia, and nostalgia prospectively predicts lower distress: A longitudinal demonstration. Journal of Personality. doi: 10.1111/jopy.12824. Online in advance.
  • Wang, Y., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Wu, M., & Cai. H.(2023). Development of Nostalgia in Emerging Adulthood. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. DOI: 10.1177/01461672221143241. Online in advance.
  • Yang, Z., Izuma, K., & Cai, H. (2023). Nostalgia in the Brain. Current Opinion in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101523. Online in advance.
  • Yang, Y., Cai, H., Yang, Z., Zhao, X., Li, M., Han R., & Chen, X. S. (2023). Why Does Nature Enhance Psychological Well-being? A Self-determination Account. Journal of Environmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101872. Online in advance. 
  • Cai, H., Yuan, J., Su, Z., Wang, X., Huang, Z., Jing, Y., & Yang, Z. (2023). Does Economic Growth Raise Happiness in China? A Comprehensive Reexamination. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 14 (2), 238-248.
  • Bao, H. W. S., Cai, H., & Huang, Z. (2022). Discerning Cultural Shifts in China? Commentary on Hamamura et al. (2021). American Psychologist. 77(6), 786–788.
  • Yang, Z., Wildschut, T., Keise, I., Sedikides, C., Gu, R., Luo, Y., & Cai, H. (2022). Patterns of Brain Activity Associated with Nostalgia: A Social-Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 17(12), 1131–1144.
  • Zhang, M., Yang, Z., Zhong, J., Zhang Y., Lin, X., Cai, H., Kong, Y. (2022). Thalamocortical mechanism for nostalgia-induced analgesia. Journal of Neuroscience. 42(14), 2963–2972.
  • Cai, H. , Luo, Y.L.L., Chen, J., Li, X., & Xie, Y. (2021). Is Implicit Social Cognition Developmentally Stable? A Longitudinal Study. Developmental Psychology. 57(12), 2220-2233. 
  • Shi, Y., Gregg, A., Sedikides, C., & Cai, H. (2021). Lay Conceptions of Modesty in China: A Prototype Approach. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology. 52(2), 155-177.
  • Yang, Z., Sedikides, C., Izuma, K., Wildschut, T., Kashima, E.S., Luo, Y. L.L., Chen, J., & Cai, H. (2021).  Nostalgia enhances detection of death threat: neural and behavioral evidence. Scientific Reports. 12662.
  • Yang, Z., Ji, L., Yang, Y., Wang, Y., Zhu, L., & Cai, H. (2021). Meaning making helps cope with COVID-19: A longitudinal study. Personality and Individual Differences. 174:110670. 
  • Chen, J., Luo, Y L.L., Xie, Y., Yang, Z., & Cai, H. (2021). Oxytocin intensifies the mortality salience effect: Novel evidence for the social salience model of oxytocin. Hormones and Behavior. 129, 104920.
  • Jing, Y; Cai, H., Bond, M. H., Li, Y., Stivers, A. M., Tan, Q. (2021). Levels of interpersonal trust across different types of environment: The micro–macro interplay between relational distance and human ecology, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150(7): 1438-1457.
  • Luo, L.L. Y.，Sedikides, C. & Cai, H. (2020). On the Etiology of Self-enhancement and Its Association with Psychological Well-Being. Social Psychological and Personality Science.  11(4), 435-445.
  • Cai, H., Huang, Z., & Jing, Y. (2019). Living in a changing world: The change of culture and psychology. In D. Matsumoto & H. Huang (Eds.), The Handbook of Cultural and Psychology (2nd ed., pp.1070-1116.). Oxford University Press.
  • Yang, Z., Sedikides, C., Gu, R., Luo, Y.L.L., Wang, Y., & Cai, H. (2018). Narcissism and risky decisions: A neurophysiological approach. Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience, 13(8), 889-897.
  • Yang, Z., Sedikides, C., Gu, R., Luo, Y.L.L., Wang, Y., Yang, Y., & Cai, H. (2018). Communal Narcissism: Social Decisions and Neurophysiological Reactions. Journal of Research in Personality, 76, 64–73.
  • Cai, H., & Luo, Y.L.L. (2017). The heritability of implicit self-esteem: A twin study. Personality and Individual Difference. 119, 249-251.
  • Wang, Y., Wu, W., Song, H., Wu, M., & Cai, H. (2017). The development of implicit self-esteem during emerging adulthood: A longitudinal analysis. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 9(7), 835-843.
  • Luo, L.L.Y., Liu, Y., Cai, H., Wildschut, T., & Sedikides, C. (2016). Nostalgia and Self-Enhancement: Phenotypic and Genetic Approaches. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7, 857-866.
  • Cai, H., Luo, L.L.Y., Shi, Y., Liu, Y., & Yang, Z. (2016). Male = science, female = humanities: Both implicit and explicit gender-science stereotypes are heritable. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7(5), 412-419.
  • Cai, H., Wu, L., Shi., Y., Gu, R., & Sedikides, C. (2016). Self-Enhancement among Westerners and Easterners: A Cultural Neuroscience Approach. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 11(10), 1569-1578.
  • Luo, L. L. Y., Cai, H., Sedikides, C., & Song, H. (2014). Distinguishing communal narcissism from agentic Narcissism: A behavior genetics analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 49, 52-48.
  • Cai, H., Sedikides, C., & Jiang, L. (2013). Familial self as a potent source of affirmation: Evidence from China. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 529-537.
  • Cai, H., Kwan, S.Y. V., & Sedikides, C. (2012). A sociocultural approach to narcissism: The case of modern China. European Journal of Personality, 26, 529-535.
  • Cai, H., Sedikides, C., Gaertner, L., Wang, C., Carvallo M., Xu,Y., Mara, E.,& Jackson, L.E. (2011). Tactical self-enhancement in China: Is modesty at the service of self-enhancement in East Asian Culture? Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2, 59-64.
  • Cai, H., Wu, Q., & Brown, J. D. (2009). Is self-esteem a universal need? Evidence from The People’s Republic of China. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 12, 104–120.
  • Oakes, M., Brown, J. D, & Cai, H. (2008). Implicit and explicit self-esteem: Measure for measure. Social Cognition, 26, 778-790.
  • Cai, H., Brown, J. D., Deng, C., & Oakes, M. (2007). Self-esteem and culture: Differences in cognitive self-evaluations or affective self-regard? Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 10,162-170.
  • Yamaguchi, S., Greenwald, A.G., Banaji, M.R., Murakami, F., Chen, D., Shiomura, K., Kobayashi, C., Cai, H., & Krendl, A. (2007). Apparent universality of positive implicit self-esteem. Psychological Science, 18, 6-8.
Department of Psychology
455 W. Lindsey Street
Dale Hall Tower, Room 705
Norman, OK 73019-2007
Phone: (405) 325-4511
Fax: (405) 325-5242
Updated 5/14/2026 by Department of Psychology: psychology@ou.edu