Xi Tian 田茜

Research Assistant Professor
  • B.A., University of Missouri – Columbia, 2013 M.S., Texas Christian University, 2015 Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 2021
  • (852) 3411-8103
  • CVA Room 933

Dr. Xi Tian is a communication scientist specializing in interpersonal and health communication. Her research examines the process of supportive communication that fosters psychological and physical health following major life stressors, such as pregnancy loss and the death of a loved one. Her work has been published in major communication and related journals, such as Journal of Communication, Health Communication, Death Studies, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and Journal of Language and Social Psychology.

Research Interests

Social Support
Message Effects
Major Life Stressors
Health and Well-Being

Publications

Kim, Y., Tian, X., & Solomon, D. H. (in press). Coping with COVID-19 at the community level: Testing the predictors and outcomes of communal coping. Journal of Community Psychology.

Dillard, J. P., Tian, X., Cruz, S., Smith, R. A., & Shen, L. (2021). Persuasive messages, social norms, and reactance: A study of masking behavior during a COVID-19 campus health campaign. Health Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2021.2007579

Brisini, K., Solomon, D. H., & Tian, X. (2021). Relational turbulence and openness to social network support for marital conflicts. Western Journal of Communication. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2021.1994638

Tian, X., Kim, Y., & Solomon, D. H. (2021). The effects of type of pronouns and hope appeals in supportive messages about COVID-19. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 40(5-6), 589-601. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X211044721

Hesse, C., Mikkelson, A. C., & Tian, X. (2021). Affection deprivation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A panel study. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 38(10), 2965-2984. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211046587

Tian, X., & Solomon, D. H. (2020). A relational turbulence theory perspective on women’s grief following miscarriage. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(6), 1852-1872. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407520910792

Tian, X., Solomon, D. H., & Brisini, K. (2020). How the comforting process fails: Psychological reactance to support messages. Journal of Communication, 70(1), 13-34. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqz040

Hesse, C., & Tian, X. (2020). Affection deprivation in marital relationships: An actor-partner interdependence mediation analysis. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 37(3), 965-985. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407519883697

Tian, X., Solomon, D. H., & Smith, R. A. (2020). A stress buffering perspective on the progression of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. Health Communication, 35(6), 747-755. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2019.1584782

Tian, X., & Solomon, D. H. (2020). Grief and post-traumatic growth following miscarriage: The role of meaning reconstruction and partner supportive communication. Death Studies, 44(4), 237-247. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2018.1539051

Shen, L., LeVan, S., Quesnell, M., & Tian, X. (2020). A scale for a-holism in relational communication: Concept explication, scale development, and correlates. The Social Science Journal, 57(3), 350-366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2018.11.002

MacGeorge, E. L., Branch, S. E., Hill, C. C., Tian, X., Caldes, E. P., Miskovsky, M., Beaty, S., & Brinker, D. (2019). Verbal person-centeredness in interaction: Connecting micro- and macro-level operationalization. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 38(2), 149-169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X18807508

Tian, X., Schrodt, P., & Carr, K. (2016). The theory of motivated information management and post-traumatic growth: Emerging adults’ uncertainty management in response to an adverse life experience. Communication Studies, 67(3), 280-301. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2016.1164207