Sheena S. Iyengar
S. T. Lee Professor of Business
Management
BA, University of Pennsylvania, 1992; BS, University of Pennsylvania, 1992; PhD, Stanford, 1997
Joined CBS in 1998
Office:
322
Kravis
Phone:
212-854-8539
E-mail:
[email protected]
Fax:
212-854-3778
Curriculum Vitae
Biography
Sheena S. Iyengar is the inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Division at Columbia Business School, and a world expert on choice and decision-making. Her book The Art of Choosing received the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year 2010 award, and was ranked #3 on the Amazon.com Best Business and Investing Books of 2010. Her research is regularly cited in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Economist as well as in popular books, such as Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance. Dr. Iyengar has also appeared on television, including the Today Show, the Daily Show, and Fareed Zakaria’s GPS on CNN. Her TED Talks have collectively received almost four million views and her research continues to inform markets, businesses, and individuals around the world.
Growing up in New York City as a blind Indian American and the daughter of immigrants, Dr. Iyengar began to look at the choices she and others had, and how to get the most from choice. She first started researching choice as an undergrad at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she graduated with a B.S. in Economics. She received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Stanford University where her dissertation, “Choice and its Discontents,” received the Best Dissertation Award. Dr. Iyengar received the Presidential Early Career Award in 2002, and in 2011 and 2019, she was named a member of the Thinkers50, a global ranking of the top 50 management thinkers. She won the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Core Teaching from Columbia Business School in 2012 and was named one of the World’s Best B-School Professors by Poets and Quants. She has also given keynotes, and consulted for companies as wide ranging as Deloitte, Google, Bloomberg, Blizzard Entertainment, J.P. Morgan & Chase, and The North Face.
In a groundbreaking, new course called "Think Bigger," Dr. Iyengar created a six-step method for teaching people how to take advantage of lessons learned from neurological and cognitive science to put our minds to work when generating our best ideas. Her new book Think Bigger will be released in 2022. She also teaches another course, the Innovation Salon, a forum comprised of students, alumni, faculty, and Innovation Fellows which seeks to not only understand the issues facing industry today, but how to address those issues with innovation.
Teaching
Spring 2022
Think Bigger
(MBA)
Innovation Salon
(MBA)
Spring 2021
Think Bigger
(MBA)
Innovation Salon
(MBA)
Fall 2021
Spring 2020
Fall 2020
Think Bigger
(MBA)
Innovation Salon
(MBA)
Spring 2019
Think Bigger
(MBA)
Leadership & Organizational Change
(EMBA)
Summer 2019
Leadership & Organizational Change (EMBA Core)
(EMBA)
Spring 2018
Summer 2018
Leadership & Organizational Change (EMBA Core)
(EMBA)
Think Bigger
(EMBA)
Fall 2018
Columbia Caseworks cases
Competition in the Geo-Mosaic Industry
(2012)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Paul Ingram
Research
Journal articles
Lay Theories of Networking Ability: Beliefs that Inhibit Engagement in Networking
In Journal of Applied Psychology
(forthcoming)
Coauthor(s): Claudius Hildebrand, Sheena Iyengar, Xi Zou
The Discriminating Consumer: Product Proliferation and Willingness to Pay for Quality
In Journal of Marketing Research
(2012)
Coauthor(s): Marco Bertini, Luc Wathieu, Sheena Iyengar
Eternal Quest for the Best: Sequential (vs. Simultaneous) Option Presentation Undermines Choice Commitment
In Journal of Consumer Research
(2012)
Coauthor(s): Cassie Mogilner, Baba Shiv, Sheena Iyengar
Perceiving Freedom Givers: Effects of Granting Decision Latitude on Personality and Leadership Perceptions
In Leadership Quarterly
(2011)
Coauthor(s): Roy Chua, Sheena Iyengar
Lead by Choice
In Leadership Excellence
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar
Born to Choose: The Origins and Value of the Need for Control. Trends in Cognitive Science
In Trends in Cognitive Science
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Lauren Leotti, Sheena Iyengar, Kevin Ochsner
Born to Choose: The Origins and Value of the Need for Control
In Trends in Cognitive Science
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Lauren Leotti, Sheena Iyengar, Kevin Ochsner
Choice Proliferation, Simplicity Seeking, and Asset Allocation
In Journal of Public Economics
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Emir Kamenica
Order in Product Customization Decisions: Evidence from Field Experiments
In <a href="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jpe/current">Journal of Political Economy</a>
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Mark Heitmann, Andreas Herrmann, Sheena Iyengar
Medium of Exchange Matters: What's Fair for Goods is Unfair for Money
In Psychological Science
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sanford DeVoe, Sheena Iyengar
Tragic Choices: Autonomy and Emotional Responses to Medical Decisions
In Journal of Consumer Research
(2009)
Coauthor(s): Simona Botti, Kristina Orfali, Sheena Iyengar
The Mere Categorization Effect: How the Presence of Categories Increases Choosers' Perceptions of Assortment Variety and Outcome Satisfaction
In Journal of Consumer Research
(2008)
Coauthor(s): Cassie Mogilner, Tamar Rudnick, Sheena Iyengar
Creativity as a Matter of Choice: Prior Experience and Task Instruction as Boundary Conditions for the Positive Effect of Choice on Creativity
In Journal of Creative Behavior
(2008)
Coauthor(s): Yong Joo Roy Chua, Sheena Iyengar
Racial Preferences in Dating: Evidence from a Speed Dating Experiment
In Review of Economic Studies
(2008)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Emir Kamenica, Itamar Simonson
Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Determinants of Participation and Contribution Rates
In Journal of Financial Services Research
(2007)
Coauthor(s): Gur Huberman, Sheena Iyengar, Wei Jiang
Repercussions of Self-Construal for Self-Relevant and Other-Relevant Choice
In Social Cognition
(2007)
Coauthor(s): Claudia Pohlmann, Erica Carranza, Bettina Hannover, Sheena Iyengar
Gender Differences in Mate Selection: Evidence from a Speed Dating Experiment
In Quarterly Journal of Economics
(2006)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Emir Kamenica, Itamar Simonson
Doing Better But Feeling Worse: Looking for the 'Best' Job Undermines Satisfaction
In Psychological Science
(2006)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Rachael E. Wells, Barry Schwartz
Empowerment through Choice? A Critical Analysis of the Effects of Choice in Organizations
In Research in Organizational Behavior
(2006)
Coauthor(s): Roy Chua, Sheena Iyengar
The Dark Side of Choice: When Choice Impairs Social Welfare
In Journal of Public Policy and Marketing
(2006)
Coauthor(s): Simona Botti, Sheena Iyengar
Appraising the Unusual: Framing Effects and Moderators of Uniqueness-Seeking and Social Projection
In Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
(2005)
Coauthor(s): Daniel Ames, Sheena Iyengar
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivational Orientations in the Classroom: Developmental Trends and Academic Correlates
In Journal of Educational Psychology
(2005)
Coauthor(s): Mark R. Lepper, Jennifer Henderlong Corpus, Sheena Iyengar
Positive Illusions of Preference Consistency: When Remaining Eluded by One's Preferences Yields Greater Subjective Well-Being and Decision Outcomes
In Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
(2005)
Coauthor(s): Rachael E. Wells, Sheena Iyengar
The Psychological Pleasure and Pain of Choosing: When People Prefer Choosing at the Cost of Subsequent Well-Being
In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(2004)
Coauthor(s): Simona Botti, Sheena Iyengar
Interpreting the Other Person's Behavior in the Heat of Conflict: Negative Trait Attributions Affect Dispute Resolution Procedure Preferences and Account for Situational and Cultural Differences
In Asian Journal of Social Psychology
(2004)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar
Person Perception in the Heat of Conflict: Negative Trait Attributions Affect Procedural Preferences and Account for Situational and Cultural Differences
In Asian Journal of Social Psychology
(2004)
Coauthor(s): Michael Morris, Angela Ka-yee Leung, Sheena Iyengar
Managers' Theories of Subordinates: A Cross-Cultural Examination of Manager Perceptions of Motivation and Appraisal of Performance
In Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
(2004)
Coauthor(s): Sanford DeVoe, Sheena Iyengar
What Drives Whom? A Cultural Perspective on Human Agency
In Social Cognition
(2001)
Coauthor(s): Miriam Hernandez, Sheena Iyengar
When Choice Is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?
In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(2000)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Mark R. Lepper
Rethinking the Value of Choice: A Cultural Perspective on Intrinsic Motivation
In Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
(1999)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Mark R. Lepper
Gender Differences in Internal and External Focusing Among Adolescents
In Sex Roles
(1997)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, S. Nolen-Hoeksema
The Hope of Fundamentalists
In Psychological Science
(1994)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Martin Seligman
Optimism and Fundamentalism
In Psychological Science
(1993)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Martin Seligman
Books
The Art of Choosing
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar
Chapters
Does More Choice Lead to More Flourishing?
In Human Flourishing in an Age of Gene Editing
(2018)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Tucker Kuman
Can You Adapt to the Load? Cognitive and Affective Consequences of Information Load
In Handbook on Bounded Rationality
(2017)
Coauthor(s): E. Reutskaja, Sheena Iyengar, B. Fasolo, R. Misuraca
The Full Information Assumption and the Choice Overload Effect
In Behavioral Economics and Economic Psychology
(2011)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Elena Reutskaja
Allocating resources among group members: The medium of exchange matters
In Research on Managing Groups and Teams: Fairness and Groups, Volume 13
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sanford DeVoe, Sheena Iyengar
How Much Choice Is Too Much? Determinants of Individual Contributions in 401K Retirement Plans
In Pension Design and Structure: New Lessons from Behavioral Finance
(2004)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar
Rethinking the Value of Choice: Considering Cultural Mediators of Intrinsic Motivation
In Cross-Cultural Differences in Perspectives on the Self
(2003)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Sanford DeVoe
Choice and Its Consequences: On the Costs and Benefits of Self-Determination
In Self and Motivation: Emerging Psychological Perspectives
(2002)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Mark R. Lepper
Cultural Differences in Self and the Impact of Personal and Social Influences
In The Practice of Social Influence in Multiple Cultures
(2001)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Joel Brockner
Independence from Whom? Interdependence with Whom? Cultural Perspectives on Ingroups Versus Outgroups
In Cultural Divides: Understanding and Overcoming Group Conflict
(1999)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Mark R. Lepper, Lee Ross
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: A Developmental Perspective
In Developmental Psychopathology: Perspectives on Adjustment, Risk, and Disorder
(1997)
Coauthor(s): Mark R. Lepper, Sheena Iyengar, Dania Dialdin, Michael Drake
Web-only articles
Why the Soda Tax Makes Us Angry
In Slate.com
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar
Assisted Suicide and 'Free Choice'
In CNN Opinion
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar
Working papers
Authentic Self-Expression on Social Media Is Associated with Greater Subjective Well-Being
(2019)
Coauthor(s): Erica Bailey, Sheena Iyengar
Diversity by Design: The Role of Contact and Homophily in Determining Persistent Friendships
(2019)
Coauthor(s): Zachary Heinemann, Modupe Akinola, Sheena Iyengar, Adam Galinsky
Lay Theories of Networking Ability: Beliefs that Inhibit Engagement in Networking
(2019)
Coauthor(s): Ko Kuwabara, Claudius Hildebrand, Sheena Iyengar, Xi Zou
Taking the True Self out of Authenticity: A New Measure of Felt Authenticity
(2019)
Coauthor(s): Carl Horton, Erica Bailey, Sheena Iyengar
The Artistic Value of a Human in the Age of the AI
(2019)
Coauthor(s): Carl Horton, Aharon Levy, Sheena Iyengar
The Simple Benefits of Saying Your Name in Pitch
(2019)
Coauthor(s): Carl Horton, Sheena Iyengar
How Social Ties Bias Group Decisions: Results from Laboratory and Field Experiments on Abstract Art and Wine
(2018)
Coauthor(s): Dan Wang, Jackson Lu, Sheena Iyengar
Other-Perceived Sincerity Predicts Political Election Outcomes, Facebook Popularity, and Speed-Dating Success
(2018)
Coauthor(s): Jackson Lu, Alexandra Suppes, Carl Horton, Sheena Iyengar
The Authenticity Challenge: How a Value Affirmation Exercise Can Engender Authentic Leadership
(2018)
Coauthor(s): Paul Ingram, Yoonjin Choi, Carl Horton, Sheena Iyengar
The Ties That B(l)ind: How Social Connectedness Diminishes Individual Influence in Group Judgments
(2016)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar
What can a looking glass reflect? Trait observability predicts what feedback is incorporated into self-knowledge
(2011)
Coauthor(s): Alexandra Suppes, Sheena Iyengar
Reconsidering Choice in the Design of Work: The Persistent Influence of Ethnicity Within a Multinational Organization
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar, Sanford DeVoe, Claudius Hildebrand
So Many Choices, So Little Time: The Influence of Timeframe on Decision Confidence and Affect
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Simona Botti, Sheena Iyengar
Book reviews
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness
In Journal of Pension Economics and Finance
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar
Ideas and Insights
In The Media
Your Email Marketing Is Destined to Fail without These 3 Essentials
Overthinking Your Money: Avoiding Analysis Paralysis
Sounds Strange, but There Could Be Too Many Vaccines
Retailers Cut Back on Choices; ‘We Don’t Need Three Types of Red’
You're Facing a Lot of Choices Amid the Pandemic. Cut Yourself Slack: It's Called Decision Fatigue.
Press Releases
Magazine articles
A Better Choosing Experience
In strategy+business
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Sheena Iyengar
Awards And Honors
MacArthur Foundation, January 2014
Columbia Business School, April 2013
Columbia University, August 2013
Columbia Business School, Poets and Quants, October 2012
Columbia Business School, September 2012
Journal of Consumer Research, September 2012
India Abroad, June 2011
Thinkers50, November 2011
Amazon.com, November 2010
Financial Times & Goldman Sachs, September 2010
Columbia Business School, Fall 2005
Executive Office of the President for Social Scientists, Office of Science and Technology Policy, January 2002
Society for Experimental Social Psychology, October 1998
ABAI 43rd Annual Convention.
Graduation keynote speaker, at Columbia Business School Global Center Asia.