Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science and Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
chauds [at] chicagobooth [dot] edu
Google Scholar // SSRN // OSF // LinkedIn // HOPE LAB
I study how people navigate social interactions and relationships with others by examining patterns in how people use language and speech acts when they communicate with one another. In some cases, I apply the lens of game theory to better understand how people subtly coordinate (or fail to coordinate) in conversations. I'm interested in the downstream consequences these behaviors have in contexts important for organizations—especially conflict management, but also negotiations, teamwork, and customer satisfaction.
Some questions I'm currently interested in include:
Is it more complicated to reconcile after conflict when transgressions are two-sided—such that both people have done something wrong—instead of one-sided?
After team failures, does it look better or worse to claim more blame than you deserve?
Why is thanking close others seen as rude or aversive in some cultures?
Can signaling self-awareness through speech help low-credibility speakers self-promote better?
In responses to customer reviews, do managers need to apologize to make readers satisfied with their response?
PUBLICATIONS * Denotes student co-author
Wald, K.A.* & Chaudhry, S.J. (2024) “‘Ignorance can be Trustworthy: The Effect of Social Self-Awareness on Trust”. Accepted at Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Wald, K.A.*, Chaudhry, S.J., & Risen, J. (2024) “The Credibility Dilemma: When a (Perceived) Lack of Credibility Can Make a Boast More Believable”. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 183, 104351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2024.104351
Data, code, pre-registrations, and materials
Open access until 9/18/24: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1jW9o2gS5O1Y6s
Wang, J.*, Chaudhry, S.J., & Koch, A. (2023) “Reminders Undermine Impressions of Genuine Gratitude.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pspi0000442.
Data, code, pre-registrations, and materials
Yu, J.* & Chaudhry, S.J. (2023) “‘Thanks, but no thanks’: Gratitude Expression Paradoxically Signals Distance,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 126(1), 58–78. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/pspi0000435.
Data, code, pre-registrations, and materials
Molnar, A., Chaudhry, S.J., & Loewenstein, G. (2023) “’It’s not about the money. It’s about sending a message!’: Avengers Want Offenders to Understand the Reason for Revenge,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 174, 104207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104207
Data, code, and pre-registrations
Chaudhry, S.J. & Wald, K.A.* (2022) “Overcoming listener skepticism: Costly signaling in communication increases perceived honesty,” Current Opinion in Psychology, 101442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101442
Chaudhry, S.J., Hand, M., & Kunreuther, H. (2021) “Broad bracketing for low probability events,” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 61(3), 211-244. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11166-020-09343-4
Data, code, and pre-registrations
Robinson, P.J., Botzen, W.J.W., Kunreuther, H., & Chaudhry, S.J. (2021) “Default Options and Insurance Demand,” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 183, 39-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2020.12.017
Chaudhry, S.J. & Loewenstein, G. (2019) “Thanking, apologizing, bragging, and blaming: Responsibility exchange theory and the currency of communication.” Psychological Review, 126(3), 313-344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rev0000139
Chaudhry, S.J. & Klinowski, D. (2016) “Enhancing autonomy to motivate effort: An experiment on the delegation of contract choice.” in Sebastian J. Goerg, John R. Hamman (ed.) Experiments in Organizational Economics (Research in experimental economics, vol 19). Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.141-157. [link]
Bhatia, S. & Chaudhry, SJ. (2013). The dynamics of anchoring in bidirectional associative memory networks. In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1899-1904). [link]
RESEARCH IN PROGRESS
“I’m sorry if you are: The risk of apologizing first and other unique dynamics in resolving two-sided conflicts” (with Valeria Burdea). Under Review. Working paper available at PsyArXiv: https://psyarxiv.com/yuvbw
“To apologize, blame, or both? How the interaction of relational and informational motives impacts reconciliation after conflict” (with Eva Chen*). (Manuscript available upon request.)
“The Downside of Generosity: When Giving More Undermines Social Connection” (with Minkwang Jang* and Ayelet Fishbach). (Manuscript available upon request.)
“The Language of Apologies in Customer Reviews” (with Akshina Banerjee* and Linhui Wu*). Data collection.
“The Lesser of Two Evils: Revealing the Choice Set to Signal Good Intentions” (with Andras Molnar). Available at PsyArXiv: http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/8sdme
