Lin Tan

Lin Tan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology within the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Arkansas. Her research integrates developmental psychology and quantitative methodology to explore children's emotional development and family-based emotional socialization processes.

• Institution: University of Arkansas
• College: College of Arts & Sciences
• Department: Psychology
• Email: lintan@uark.edu
• Phone: 479-575-5501

Education:

• Ph.D. in Human Development, Virginia Tech, 2017
• M.A. in Data Analytics and Applied Statistics, Virginia Tech, 2017
• M.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development, University of Pennsylvania, 2012

Dr. Tan’s research centers on how children develop emotional regulation skills within family contexts, with a particular focus on the functional roles of anger and sadness, parental beliefs about children's emotions, and cross-cultural emotional socialization, especially among Asian American immigrant families. She also investigates alcohol prevention strategies among college students, applying advanced statistical modeling to assess intervention effectiveness and behavioral predictors.

Her recent publications, appearing in journals like Child Development, Emotion, and Frontiers in Psychology, reveal a consistent trajectory in understanding bidirectional parent-child emotional dynamics, longitudinal growth in emotion understanding, and culturally sensitive measurement tools. These works emphasize methodological rigor and real-world applications in parenting support and education.

Dr. Tan leads the Family Emotion Ecology Lab (FEELab), where she mentors undergraduate and graduate researchers. Current projects include examining how children can harness negative emotions constructively and exploring the emotional socialization challenges faced by first-generation Asian American parents. She is accepting new graduate students for Fall 2025.

Awards and Recognition:

• No scientific awards explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Dr. Tan advises students on research projects, including honors theses and undergraduate research fellowships. While no external grants are detailed, her collaborative work suggests active engagement in funded research. She teaches PYSC 3073 - Research Methods, contributing to methodological training in psychology.