Shan Xu

Biography

Shan Xu is a researcher and teacher focused on understanding how people interact with technology. She is an Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University's College of Media and Communication.

Research Areas

• Corporate & Organizational
• Health
• Media Psycho-physiology
• Science
• Artificial Intelligence

Her research primarily explores how individuals engage with artificial intelligence (AI), social media, and media multitasking. Her aim is to enhance human health, well-being, and productivity through a deeper understanding of these interactions.

Her research adopts a dynamic perspective to examine the reciprocal causality between media use and media effects, and how media effects unfold over time. To test these dynamic relationships, her research utilizes longitudinal studies, ecological momentary assessment, and emphasizes time series analysis, dynamic panel analysis, and machine learning algorithms. She is the director of the Human-Tech Dynamics Lab. 

She has first-authored publications in established communication and psychology journals, including Communication Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Human Communication Research, Health Communication, New Media and Society, and Current Opinion in Psychology. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Waterhouse Foundation Institute, and research grants from Texas Tech University and Stony Brook University.

Before her current role at Texas Tech, Shan earned her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University's School of Communication in 2019. For more information about her research and teaching, please visit Personal Website.

Publications

Xu, S., Kee, K. F., Li, W., Yamamoto, M., & Riggs, R. E. (online first). Examining the Diffusion of Innovations from a dynamic, differential-effects perspective: A longitudinal study on AI adoption among employees. Communication Research https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00936502231191832

Xu, S., & Li, W. (2022). A tool or a social being? A dynamic longitudinal investigation of functional use and relational use of AI voice assistants: New Media & Society. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448221108112

Xu, S., & Wang, Z. (2022) Multiple selves and multitasking: A dynamic longitudinal study. Communication Research. 49(6), 891-914. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0093650221991493

Teaching Focus

PR Strategies
Research Methods
Health Communication
Human-AI Interaction

Leadership & Awards

• Faculty Fellowship Award for Community Engaged Scholarship, Texas Tech University, 2023-2024
• Texas Tech University Outstanding Research Award, 2023
• Director of the Human-Tech Dynamics Lab