Prof. Karson KUNG

EDUCATION

• PhD, University of Cambridge
• BSc, University College London (UCL)

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

Education and Career. Karson read psychology as an undergraduate student at UCL and graduated with a First Class Honours degree, achieving a First in all years of study. Upon completing his undergraduate study, he became a postgraduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He graduated as the most impactful PhD candidate in his cohort (1^st out of 19), ranked by impact factor points accumulated from first-authored empirical research publications. During the final stage of his PhD, he became the only Research Associate funded by St. John’s College and an Affiliated Lecturer in Psychology at Cambridge. Shortly after receiving his PhD, in fall 2020, he became an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

Research Awards. In 2020, Karson was one of the only two people outside America to receive an Early Career Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association (APA). In 2023, he received the Best Senior Poster Award at the 49^th Annual Meeting of the International Academy of Sex Research (IASR). In 2025, he received the Elsevier Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Award from the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology (SBN).

Research Funding. In 2021, as principal investigator, Karson was awarded the largest grant in the Early Career Scheme of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council across all subjects, panels, and institutions (1^st out of 418 applications). In 2023, as principal investigator, he was awarded the largest grant in the Psychology and Linguistics subject area across all institutions through the General Research Fund of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (1^st out of 152 applications). Between 2022 and 2025, as primary research supervisor, he successfully recruited 3 PhD students primarily funded by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council.

Teaching Accolades. In 2025, Karson received the Social Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award, a faculty-level award in recognition of his sustained teaching excellence in psychology at HKU. Previously, while teaching at Cambridge during his PhD study, for 3 consecutive years, Karson was the best-rated lecturer amongst those contributing to an advanced psychology course (1^st out of 10+). At Cambridge, he was on the final shortlist for a university-wide students’ choice teaching excellence award. He also used to hold the Senior Mentor position in the BSc Psychology programme at UCL.

Editorial and Visiting Positions. Karson serves on the editorial board of the Archives of Sexual Behavior. He has held official visiting scholar positions at other universities including Cambridge, Chicago, and Oxford. 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Gender similarities and differences in education, health, and work
• Organising effects of prenatal and early postnatal exposure to androgenic hormones such as testosterone
• Causes, correlates, and consequences of childhood gender-typed behaviour
• Male preponderance in neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism
• Well-being of sexual and gender minorities including non-heterosexual individuals, transgender and non-binary individuals, and individuals with an “intersex” condition

RESEARCH LABORATORY – Psychology and Human Development (PHD) Lab

Core Members (current students/staff with Karson as primary research supervisor)

Doctoral Students

• Marshall M. C. Hui
  • BSSc, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK); MSocSc, University of Hong Kong (HKU)
  • Awarded the Leung Lai Siu Chun Memorial Scholar title at CUHK
  • Awarded the Leung Che Kwong Lai Shim Memorial Scholar title & the Geraldine Mao-Ng Prize at HKU
  • Primarily funded by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council
• Rachel L. C. Li
  • BA & MPhil, University of Hong Kong
  • Primarily funded by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council
• Dino C. K. Wong
  • BSocSc & MSocSc, University of Hong Kong; MPhil, University of Cambridge
  • Awarded the Bell Scholar title at Cambridge
• Sixuan Zhang
  • BS, Peking University; MA, Columbia University
  • Awarded the CURE Scholar title at Peking
  • Primarily funded by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council

Research Assistants

• HUANG Jing Lin, Eileen
• SY Man Kit, Diego

Our research group is always looking for new talents (e.g., post-doctoral researchers, doctoral candidates, and research interns). Interested applicants should contact Karson (karson.kung@hku.hk) directly.

PUBLICATIONS (last updated in summer 2025)

*Corresponding author

HKU students’ names are underlined.

Starting from Kung (2020), HKU has been Karson’s primary or only affiliation.

IFQ indicates a journal’s impact factor quartile in the Journal Citation Reports published in 2024.

Au Yeung, T. T. W., Hui, M. M. C., & Kung, K. T. F.* (accepted/in press). An empirical qualitative investigation into psychosexual development in and sex education for autistic youth: Insights from autistic and non-autistic young adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Developmental”)

Hui, M. M. C., & Kung, K. T. F.* (accepted/in press). Experimental evidence of peer gender nonconformity triggering dehumanization in children: Developmental trajectory, form, and link to bullying. Developmental Science. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Experimental”)

Kung, K. T. F.* (accepted/in press). The Chinese 10-item Empathy Quotient and Systemising Quotient-Revised: Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, known-groups validity, and sex differences in autistic and non-autistic adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Developmental”)

Kung, K. T. F.*, Li, R. L. C., Tam, E. C. H., Zhang, S., & Hui, M. M. C. (accepted/in press). Longitudinal relationship of early postnatal testosterone and harsh parenting at 1–3 months of age to physical aggression at 12 months of age in boys and girls. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychiatry”)

To, J. C. S., & Kung, K. T. F.* (accepted/in press). Sex-typical toy, activity, and playmate preferences in autistic and non-autistic children. Autism. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Developmental”)

To, J. C. S., Hui, M. M. C., & Kung, K. T. F.* (accepted/in press). Self-reported multidimensional gender identity in autistic and non-autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Developmental”)

Wong, D. C. K., & Kung, K. T. F.* (accepted/in press). Efficacy of Compassionate Mind Training for Gay Men (CMT-GM) in improving mental health: A randomized controlled trial with mediation analysis evaluating a novel program. Mindfulness. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Clinical”)

Kung, K. T. F.*, & Hines, M. (2025). A 10-year longitudinal relationship between preschool sex-typical play behavior at age 3.5 years and mental rotation performance in adolescence at age 13 years. Archives of Sexual Behavior. (IFQ: Q1 in “Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary”)

Kung, K. T. F.* (2024). Autistic traits, gender minority stress, and mental health in transgender and non-binary adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 54, 1389-1397. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Developmental”)

Kung, K. T. F.*, Louie, K., Spencer, D., & Hines, M. (2024). Prenatal androgen exposure and sex-typical play behaviour: A meta-analysis of classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia studies. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 159:105616. (IFQ: Q1 in “Neurosciences”)

Luders, E., Spencer, D., Gaser, C., Thankamony, A., Hughes, I. A., Srirangalingam, U., Gleeson, H., Kung, K. T. F., Cabeen, R. P., Hines, M., & Kurth, F. (2024). White matter variations in congenital adrenal hyperplasia: Possible implications for glucocorticoid treatment. Brain Communications, 6:fcae334. (IFQ: Q1 in “Clinical Neurology”)

Kung, K. T. F.* (2022). Gender differences in children’s play. In P. K. Smith and C. H. Hart (Eds.), The 3rd Edition of the Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development (3rd ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Kung, K. T. F.* (2022). Recalled childhood gender-related play behaviour and current gender-related occupational interests in university students: Examining the mediating roles of gender compatibility, goal endorsement, and occupational stereotype flexibility. Frontiers in Psychology, 13:927998. (IFQ: Q2 in “Psychology, Multidisciplinary”)

Kung, K. T. F.* (2021). Preschool gender-typed play behavior predicts adolescent gender-typed occupational interests: A 10-year longitudinal study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50, 843-851. (IFQ: Q1 in “Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary”)

Kung, K. T. F.*, Thankamony, A., Ong, K. K. L., Acerini, C. L., Dunger, D. B., Hughes, I. A., & Hines, M. (2021). No relationship between prenatal or early postnatal androgen exposure and autistic traits: Evidence using anogenital distance and penile length measurements at birth and 3 months of age. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 62, 876-883. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Developmental”)

Kung, K. T. F.* (2020). Autistic traits, systemising, empathising, and theory of mind in transgender and non-binary adults. Molecular Autism, 11:73. (IFQ: Q1 in “Neurosciences”)

Kung, K. T. F.*, Li, G., Golding, J., & Hines, M. (2018). Preschool gender-typed play behavior at age 3.5 years predicts physical aggression at age 13 years. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 47, 905-914. (IFQ: Q1 in “Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary”)

Kung, K. T. F.*, Spencer, D., Pasterski, V., Neufeld, S., Hindmarsh, P. C., Hughes, I. A., Acerini, C. L., & Hines, M. (2018). Emotional and behavioral adjustment in 4 to 11-year-old boys and girls with classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia and unaffected siblings. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 97, 104-110. (IFQ: Q2 in “Endocrinology & Metabolism”)

Li, G., Kung, K. T. F., & Hines, M. (2017). Childhood gender-typed behavior and adolescent sexual orientation: A longitudinal population-based study. Developmental Psychology, 53, 764–777. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Developmental”)

Hines, M., Spencer, D., Kung, K. T. F., Browne, W. V., Constantinescu, M., & Noorderhaven, R. M. (2016). The early postnatal period, mini-puberty, provides a window on the role of testosterone in human neurobehavioural development. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 38, 69–73.  (IFQ: Q1 in “Neurosciences”)

Kung, K. T. F.*, Browne, W. V., Constantinescu, M., Noorderhaven, R. M., & Hines, M. (2016). Early postnatal testosterone predicts sex-related differences in early expressive vocabulary. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 68, 111-116. (IFQ: Q2 in “Endocrinology & Metabolism”)

Kung, K. T. F.*, Constantinescu, M., Browne W. V., Noorderhaven, R. M., & Hines, M. (2016). No relationship between early postnatal testosterone and autistic traits in 18 to 30-month-old children. Molecular Autism, 7:15. (IFQ: Q1 in “Neurosciences”)

Kung, K. T. F.*, Spencer, D., Pasterski, V., Neufeld, S., Glover, V., O’Connor, T. G., Hindmarsh, P. C., Hughes, I. A., Acerini, C. L., & Hines, M. (2016). No relationship between prenatal androgen exposure and autistic traits: Convergent evidence from studies of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia and of amniotic testosterone concentrations in typically-developing children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 57, 1455-1462. (IFQ: Q1 in “Psychology, Developmental”)