Shereen J. Chaudhry, Ph.D.

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:

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, 104351https://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

MEDIA COVERAGE