Lifan Yu

Lifan Yu serves as Senior Director of Global Initiatives and Digital Innovations at New College and is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Arizona State University (since Spring 2022). She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (Human Development) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her B.S. in Psychology from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

Her research focuses on moral development and well-being within cross-cultural family contexts. In particular, she examines forgiveness in relation to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), as well as cultural variations in filial piety, attribution of responsibility, and authoritarian parenting. Grounded in a social justice perspective and the philosophy of moral virtues, her work also explores post-hurt interventions (e.g., Forgiveness Therapy) among diverse populations, including left-behind children and adults, individuals experiencing homelessness or involved in the correctional system, and those coping with interpersonal harms such as road rage, divorce, and religious struggles.

Her teaching areas include Developmental Psychology, Educational Psychology, and Cognitive Psychology.

For more information, visit her lab website: https://newcollege.asu.edu/ssbs/research-labs/forgiveness-compassion-de…