About

I am a chartered psychologist of the British Psychological Society, a fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a member of the Human Sciences Research Centre (HSRC). My research employs multiple methods (e.g., longitudinal, cross-sectional, experimental, cross-country) to investigate the Person x Environment Interaction in areas including performance and training, anti-doping, physical activity and wellbeing, with a particular focus on narcissism, compassion, and related personalities and individual differences in psychological states. I am an editorial board member of the Sport and Exercise Psychology Review and an invited reviewer for leading peer-review journals such as Psychology of Sport & Exercise, Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, Personality and Individual Differences, etc. My work has been supported by the Knowledge Exchange for Innovation scheme and the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Research interests

My primary research interests are below, and I am happy to supervise research projects and PhD students who have an interest in related research areas:

• Individual differences and their mechanisms underpinning performance and training
• Psycho-behavioural drivers of doping
• Psychology in physical activity and mental health

Recent publications

Zhang, S., Wang, L., He, Y., & Liu, J. (2023). The divergent effects of resilience qualities and resilience support in predicting pre-competition anxiety and championship performance. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport

Zhang, S., Roscoe, C., & Pringle, A. (2023). Self-compassion and physical activity: The underpinning role of psychological distress and barrier self-efficacy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20, 1480

Matos, M., McEwan, K., Kanovský, M., … Zhang, S., … Gilbert, P.  (2023). Improvements in Compassion and Fears of Compassion throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multinational Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20, 1845

Zhang, S., & Boardley, I. (2022). The ‘selves’ in banned performance enhancement: Investigating narcissism and compassion in the context of doping. Performance Enhancement & Health, 100243

Zhang, S., & McEwan, K. (2022). Development and validation of Fears of Compassion in Sport Scale (FCSS). PsyArXiv

Matos, M., McEwan, K., Kanovský, M., … Zhang, S., … Gilbert, P. (2022). Compassion Protects Mental Health and Social Safeness During the COVID-19 Pandemic Across 21 Countries. Mindfulness, 13, 863–880

Zhang, S., Roberts, R., Woodman, T., Pitkethly, A., English, C., & Nightingale, D. (2021). Foresee the glory and train better: Narcissism, goal-setting, and athlete training. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 10, 381–393

Zhang, S., Wang, J., & Pitkethly, A. (2021). Task-efficacy predicts perceived enjoyment and subsequently barrier-efficacy: investigating a psychological process underpinning schoolchildren’s physical activity. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 19, 943–956

Zhang, S., Roberts, R., Woodman, T., & Cooke, A. (2020). I am great, but only when I also want to dominate: Maladaptive narcissism moderates the relationship between adaptive narcissism and performance under pressure. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 42, 323–335

Zhang, S., Beattie, S., Pitkethly, A., & Dempsey, C. (2019). Lead me to train better: Transformational leadership’s moderation of the negative relationship between athlete personality and training behaviours. The Sport Psychologist, 33, 119–128

Zhang, S., Woodman, T., & Roberts, R. (2018). Anxiety and Fear in Sport and Performance. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. Oxford University Press

Wang, J., Baranowski, T., Lau, P. W. C., Chen, T., & Zhang, S. (2016). Psychological correlates of self-reported and objectively measured physical activity among Chinese children - psychological correlates of PA. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13, 1006–1017

Membership of professional bodies

• Chartered psychologist of the British Psychological Society
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Member of the European College of Sport Science
• Member of the European Federation of Sport Psychology

Qualifications

• PhD in Personality and Performance Psychology (Bangor University)
• PGCE in Higher Education (Bangor University)
• MSc in Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology (Bangor University)
• MSc in Psychology (University of Glasgow)

Recent conferences

• "Investigating narcissism and compassion in the context of doping", 2022 Congress of the European College of Sport Sciences (ECSS), Sevilla, Spain
• "Longitudinal effects of dietary supplement and medication use on functional and moral attitudes towards doping", 2022 Congress of the European College of Sport Sciences (ECSS), Sevilla, Spain
• "Performance strategies’ moderation of the interaction between adaptive and maladaptive narcissism on athlete training", 2019 Conference of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), Leicester, UK
• "Lead me to train better: Transformational leadership moderates the negative relationship between athlete personality and training behaviours", 2018 Congress of the European College of Sport Sciences (ECSS), Dublin, Ireland
• "When adaptive and maladaptive narcissism meet: The precise combination matters in stressful cognitive performance", 2018 International Conferences for Self-enhancement, Warsaw, Poland
• "I am great, and I want to dominate: Narcissism and performance under stress", 2017 Conference of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), Nottingham, UK. [Presenter]
• "Narcissism and performance under pressure: Every piece of narcissism matters", 2016 Congress of the European College of Sport Sciences (ECSS), Vienna, Austria

International experience

I am from the Chinese mainland and had rich life experience in its different cities/regions before moving to Hong Kong SAR to attend university. I had working experience in the U.S. and Hong Kong prior to starting postgraduate studies in the UK.

Teaching responsibilities

• 4SO501 Principles of Sport and Exercise Psychology
• 5SO503 Sport and Exercise Psychology
• 7SO502 Advanced Research Methods
• 7SO503 Advanced Sport Psychology
• 7SO508 Psychology of Exercise and Physical Activity
• 7SO511 Current Concepts in Advanced Sport and Exercise Psychology