Dr. Kai Zhang

Kai Zhang is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Social and Political Psychology (SPP) and a member of the Negotiation Research Group (NRG)  at the Institute of Psychology (IfP) at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg. Kai received his doctoral degree in Psychology from the Free University of Berlin. 

As the Psychology Program Coordinator, he is responsible for coordinating the teaching contents of the Bachelor & Master study programs in the psychology domain at Leuphana. 

Among his research interests, the following list provides a brief overview of the ongoing research on transformation negotiations:

• Social Capital in Transformation Negotiations: Solving Conflicts of Interest at and Beyond the Negotiation Table (PI: Kai Zhang; Co-PI: Roman Trötschel, Hong Zhang, Hillie Aalderling), Funding Applied from the Lower Saxony Ministry for Science and Culture.
• Social capital value in negotiation, particularly the investigation of psychological processes in social-dilemma and transformation negotiations with externalities (e.g., social cost), with the aim of managing the transition towards sustainability. 
• The experience and behavior of people in socially relevant negotiation situations, particularly how contextual characteristics (e.g., cultural background, social identity) affect negotiators' preference on economic vs. social capital value. 

Kai has also conducted work on the topics of interdependence, social conformity, positivity biases, fear memory, and cultural differences. He is proficient in fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) techniques, which he has used in conjunction with his psychology research. He has presented his work in Asia and Europe, and he is dedicated to realize his research beneficial to society and generalize it to a cross-culture scope.